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THE  SERVIAN  PEOPLE 


THE  SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

THEIR  PAST  GLORY  AND 
THEIR  DESTINY 


BY 
PRINCE   LAZAROVICH-HREBELIANOVICH 

WITH  THE  COLLABORATION  OF 

PRINCESS   LAZAROVICH-HREBELIANOVICH 

(ELEAXOR  CALHOUN) 


ILLUSTRATED 


IN    TWO    VOLUMES 
VOLUME    I 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 

1910 


COPTRIOHT,  1910,  BT 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

Published  October,  1910 
All  Rights  of  Translation  Reserved 


45 


TO 

OUR  DEAR  BOYS 

STEPHAN-DOUSHAN  AND  STEPHAN-LAZAR 

AND  OUR  DEAR  GIRL   MARA 


/'* 


PREFACE 

Events  in  the  Near  East,  which  have  brought 
the  Servian  people  prominently  to  the  attention  of 
the  world,  and  the  trusteeship  laid  upon  them  by 
destiny  as  guardians  of  the  chief  strategic  position  in 
the  Balkan  Peninsula  and  keepers  of  the  great  gate- 
way between  Europe  and  the  Orient,  make  it  de- 
sirable to  set  forth  more  fully  than  has  hitherto  been 
done  in  the  English  language  some  account  of  their 
place  among  peoples,  considered  in  regard  to  their 
physical  characteristics,  their  manner  of  life,  their 
ideas,  customs,  beliefs,  traditions,  and  ambitions, 
their  culture,  their  songs,  their  battles,  the  interest- 
ing geographical  situation  of  their  country,  and  their 
relation  politically  to  the  other  nations  of  Europe. 

An  opinion  can  be  formed  regarding  the  future 
actions  and  general  worth  to  human  society  of  a  man 
or  a  nation  by  his  or  its  past  conduct  and  achieve- 
ments, and  so  the  only  fair  basis  of  judgment  con- 
cerning the  Servian  people  must  rest  upon  some 
knowledge  of  their  past  actions  and  the  institutions 
in  which  during  the  centuries  they  have  embodied 
their  ideals  and  their  will. 

Such  curtailed  survey  of  the  subject  as  can  be  in- 
cluded within  the  scope  of  the  present  endeavour 
will  at  least  provide  the  casual  reader  with  some 
notion    of   Servian   personality    and    character,   and 


viii  PREFACE 

suggest  sources  of  ampler  information  concerning  the 
institutions  of  Christian  culture  and  civilisation 
evolved  by  the  Serbs  and  brought  to  a  high  state  of 
excellence  in  the  Middle  Ages  and  which  were  swept 
from  existence  by  the  Turkish  conquest. 

The  study  of  past  events  and  moral  movements, 
of  conditions  among  peoples  in  earlier  ages,  and  of 
their  national  conceptions,  is  valuable  chiefly  because 
of  its  power  to  illumine  the  life  of  the  present,  either 
by  revealing  to  us  the  true  nature  of  forces  which  we 
see  at  work  in  our  own  time,  or  by  suggesting  racial 
or  national  potentialities,  which  like  unworked  gold 
in  ancient  forgotten  mines — mines  levelled  over  and 
blurred  from  sight,  it  may  be,  by  devastating  conquest 
or  some  other  fatal  cataclysm  centuries  ago — have 
brought  all  their  richness  of  treasure  down  to  our 
own  times  to  be  relocated,  examined,  and  developed 
with  the  advantages  of  all  modern  resources  of  sci- 
entific method  and  accumulated  experience. 

Co-operation  and  respect  for  the  rights  of  the  indi- 
vidual were  the  basis  of  the  Servian  social  structure 
from  earliest  times.  The  jury  was  an  ancient  Ser- 
vian institution  before  its  general  use  in  Europe. 
All  Serbs  were  entitled  to  fair  trial  in  public  courts. 
The  sovereign  himself  was  never  above  the  law  and 
could  be  sued  in  those  courts  of  justice  by  the  hum- 
blest of  his  subjects.  Slavery  was  never  practised 
by  the  Serbs,  but  was  denounced  by  Servian  rulers. 

These  and  other  Servian  conceptions  of  human 
rights  heralded  in  early  mediaeval  times  ideals  of 
justice  and  brotherhood  which  form  the  aim  of  mod- 
ern Western  enlightenment. 


PREFACE  ix 

There  rises  to  mind  the  image  of  Elena,  Queen 
of  Italy,  of  unmixed  Servian  blood,  a  woman  lovely 
and  gracious  among  all  women,  and  a  queen  noble 
among  all  queens  at  a  time  when  pure  and  high- 
souled  womanhood  is  nowhere  more  exemplified  than 
in  the  ladies  who  first  among  their  peers  at  present 
grace  the  thrones  of  Europe.  Those  who  have  lived 
in  Serb  lands  like  Miss  Durham,  and  know  about 
them,  would  recall  many  a  stately  child  of  the  Servian 
hills  much  resembling  Queen  Elena  in  character  and 
type  and  womanly  ways,  though,  unlike  Her  Majesty 
of  Italy,  not  having  the  training  of  the  proudest  of 
Imperial  Courts,  and  knowing  only  the  nurture  of  the 
simple  Servian  home-hearth. 

This  book  is  based  on  the  results  of  profound  and 
extensive  researches  made  by  Servian  historians  and 
scholars,  and  upon  the  study  of  historical  and  State 
documents. 

In  Part  I  of  the  book  use  has  been  made  princi- 
pally of  the  ethnographical  works  and  other  writings 
of  the  late  Professors  V.  Karich  and  M.  Militchevich. 

For  Part  III — Chapters  V  and  VI— in  addition  to 
the  large  mass  of  documents  and  writings  consulted, 
among  which  were  the  earlier  works  on  the  subject 
of  Stoyan  Novakovich  and  Panta  Sretchkovich,  par- 
ticular note  has  been  taken  of  the  studies  and  con- 
clusions of  Dr.  M.  Vlainatz.  The  chief  authorities 
consulted  for  Chapters  VII  and  VIII  were  Stoyan 
Novakovich,  Vouk  Stephanovich  Karadjich,  the 
Memoirs  of  Nenadovich,  Hammer's  History  of  the 
Ottoman  Empire,  and  the  writings  of  Mouradja 
d'Ohson. 


x  PREFACE 

Among  the  many  sources  of  Part  IV  were  the 
writings  of  Professor  F.  Ratchki,  Iovan  Tomich,  M. 
Grbich,  Klayich,  Kovatchevich,  Yakshich,  Stoyan 
Novakovich,  Panta  Sretchkovich  M.  Gavrilovich,  V. 
Georgevich,  S.  Yovanovich.  The  authors  have  been 
especially  fortunate  in  being  able  to  consult  the  new 
and  much-praised  work  of  Professor  S.  Stanoyevich, 
entitled  "Istoriya  Srpskoga  Naroda,"  published  at 
Belgrade  in  1908.  They  are  also  indebted  to  Pro- 
fessor G.  Stanoyevich  for  permission  to  use  in  illus- 
tration of  the  book  photographs  made  by  him  for 
the  Belgrade  Museum. 

The  authors  are  deeply  conscious  that  their  work 
cannot  hope  to  be  free  from  flaws  or  adequate  to  its 
subject.  They  would  beg  indulgence  for  the  rough- 
ness of  the  new  ground  they  have  broken. 

New  York,  June  15,  1910. 


CONTENTS 

Volume  I 

PART  I— THE  SERVIAN  RACE 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.     The  Servian  Race 3 

1.  Physical  Characteristics 7 

The  Physical  Conditions  of  Life — Clothing — Houses. 

2.  Moral  Characteristics  and  Religion     ....       14 

3.  Language 31 

4.  Family  Life — Clans — Communities — Zadrugas, 

etc 39 

5.  Relations    Between    Men    and    Women — The 

Place  of  the  Women  in  Family  and  National 
Life 50 

6.  Customs  —  Family    Festivals  —  Christmas  — 

Easter  Traditions  —  Ceremonies,  etc.    ...       55 

Marriage — Death  and  Burial — Pobratimstvo  (Brother- 
hood) and  Posestrinstvo  (Sisterhood) — Fire — Prelo 
and  Selo  —  Christmas  and  Easter  —  Music,  Song, 
Dance. 

PART  II— SERVL\N  LANDS  TO-DAY 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

II.     Geographical  Features 93 

1.  River  Systems 95 

2.  Mountain   Systems,   Their    Flora   and   Their 

Fauna 99 

The  Carst  Ranges— The  Dinaric  System— The  Al- 
banian Ranges — The  Shumadia  Mountains — Carpa- 
thians, Balkans,  and  the  Rhodope  System. 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTEK  PAGE 

III.     Independent  Servian  Lands 108 

1.  The  Kingdom  of  Servia  (Srbiya) 108 

Population — Constitution  and  Government — Adminis- 
tration —  Religion  —  Education  —  Justice,  Crime, 
Pauperism  —  Matrimony  —  The  Army  —  Fortifica- 
tions —  Finance  —  State  Budget  —  Public  Debt  — 
Money — Products  and  Industries:  Cereals;  Vege- 
tables; Fruit;  Cattle  and  Other  Domestic  Animals; 
Poultry;  Hunting  and  Fishing;  Forestry;  Minerals 
and  Ore;  Industries;  Modern  Manufactures — Com- 
merce;  Lines  of  Communication. 

2.  The  Principality  of  Montenegro  (Tsrnagora)     131 

Administration  and  Social  Organisation — Constitution 
— Religion — Education — Justice,  Crime,  Pauperism 
— Finance — Budget — Money— The  Army:  Organisa- 
tion; Command  and  Officers;  Mobilisation;  Instruc- 
tion; Spirit  and  Discipline — Products  and  Industries 
— Commerce — Lines  of  Communication. 


IV.    Servian  Lands  Under  Foreign  Domination    .     142 

1.  Bosnia     and     Herzegovina     (under     Austria- 

Hungary)      142 

Population  —  Administration  —  Finance  —  The    Army 
— Religion — Education — Justice,   Crime,   Pauperism 
— Products    and    Industries:    Mining;    Industries — 
Lines  of  Communication — Commerce. 

2.  Dalmatia  (under  Austria) 153 

Population — Administration — The  Army — Religion — 
Education — Products  and  Industries. 

3.  Croatia-Slavonia  (under  Hungary)      ....     158 

Population — Administration  and  Political  Reorganisa- 
tion— Budget — Credit — Justice — The  Army — Relig- 
ion —  Education  —  Products  and  Industries  —  Com- 
merce— Lines  of  Communication. 

4.  Banat  and  Batchka  (under  Hungary)      .     .     .     167 
Administration — Products. 


CONTEXTS  xiii 

PAGE 

5.  Old   Servia,   Stara    Srbiya    (under   Turkev-in- 

Europe) 170 

Administration — Education — Products — Lines  of  Com- 
munication—  Architecture  and   Monuments. 

Serb  Population  Estimated  for  December,  1909.      17-1 

PART    III— CIVILISATION    AND    CULTURE    FROM 
EARLY  TIMES  UP  TO  THE  PRESENT 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

V.     Social  Organisation   and   Conditions  Prior 

to  about  1100 177 

1.  Direct  Subjects  of  Byzance 182 

The  Coloni  liberi — The  Coloni  censibus  adscripticii — 
The  "Latifundia" — The  Leges  rusticse. 

2.  Serbs    of    the    Great    Migration   never    under 

Byzantine  Direct  Rule — Early  Servian  States     189 

Evolution  of  State  up  to  the  Twelfth  Century — Interior 
Organisation — Zhupa. 

VI.  Social  Organisation  from  about  1100  to 
about  1470  (Servian  Kingdoms  and  Em- 
pire)   197 

1.  Constitution  and  Organisation  of  the  Servian 

State 197 

States  Assembly. 

2.  State  and  Crown  Revenues 201 

3.  Administrative  Divisions  with  Local  Self-Gov- 

ernment  and  the  Family  as  a  Social  Unit .     .      JO  I 

The   Zhupa    (County) — The    "Grad"    (Town)  —  Selo 
(Village  or  Rural  Community) — House  (Koutcha). 

4.  The  Sovereign  and  the  Court 215 

5.  Social  Conditions  in  General  219 

6.  The  Nobility 221 

Property:   Bashtina;  Pronya. 

7.  The  Clergv  and  the  Church 231 

Obligations  and  Duties. 


xiv  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

8.  Sebar  or  Commoner 236 

Gradjani— Zemlyani— " Serbs"  and  " Vlachs "— " Slo- 
bodnyi  Lyudi":  Parish  Priest;  The  Widow  ("The 
Poor  Spinner") — The  Merops  or  Kmets:  Legal  Char- 
acteristics of  the  Merop  Tenure;  Bashtina  Rights  of 
Merops;  Obligations  of  the  Zemlyanin- Merop  Toward 
the  Domain;  Church  Tenants;  The  Conditions  of 
Robot  and  Dues  of  the  Zemlyani  Living  on  Domains 
Belonging  to  the  State,  the  Sovereign,  or  Private  Indi- 
viduals— Vlachs:    Labour  and  Other  Dues  of  Vlachs. 

9.  Otroks 264 

Anti-Slavery. 

10.  The  Administration  of  Justice 268 

Equality  Before  the  Law  and  Rights  of  the  Individual 
— Procedure — The  Constitution  of  Juries — Ecclesias- 
tical Courts — Private  Law — Criminal  and  Penal  Law 
— Responsibility  and  Restitution — Justice  for  For- 
eigners. 

11.  The  Army 287 

12.  Resources,  Commerce,  and  Industries     .     .     .     292 

Agriculture  —  Forests  —  Hunting  —  Mining  —  Com- 
merce and  Industry — Trade-Routes — Money. 

VII.    The   Servians   Under   Turkish    Rule    from 

ABOUT  1470  TO  ABOUT  1800 301 

1.  The  Turkish  Army  of  Conquest 304 

2.  Methods  of  Administration 307 

Remains  of  Servian  Self-Government. 

3.  Turkish  Forms  of  Holdings  in  Appropriation 

of  Servian  Lands .     314 

4.  Taxes  and  Other  Exactions 315 

5.  Christian  Clergy 323 

6.  Characteristics   of  the  "Berat  Bashi-Knezes" 

and  Their  Territories 327 

7.  Haydouks  and  Ouskoks 329 

8.  Downfall  of  the  Janissaries — Servian  Indepen- 

dence   332 


CONTENTS  xv 

CHAPTER  pAGE 

VIII.    The  Last  Hundred  Years 335 

1.  Turkish  Attempts  at  Reform 335 

2.  Bosnia-Herzegovina  an  Austrian  Province    .     .  337 

3.  Sovereign  Principality  of  Montenegro      .     .     .  338 

4.  Independent    Principality — Modern    Kingdom 

of  Servia 339 

IX.     Religion  and  Education 340 

1.  Erection  of  the  Independent  National  Servian 

Orthodox  Church 345 

2.  Bogomil  Faith 350 

3.  Erection  of  the  Servian  Orthodox  Patriarchat     355 

4.  Absorption  of  the  Servian  Patriarchat  by  the 

Greek    Patriarch.      Servian     Church     under 
Constantinople 359 

5.  Re-establishment      of      Independent      Servian 

Churches 362 

Servian  Church — Montenegrin  Church — Servian  Church 
in  Bosnia — Bulgarian  Exarchat — New  Servian  Arch- 
bishopric in  Turkey  —  Servian  Church  in  Austria- 
Hungary. 

6.  Education 365 

X.     Literature,  the  Fine  Arts,  Music,  and  the 

Drama 368 

1.  The  Old  Servian  Literature 370 

2.  The  Dalmatian  Period 374 

3.  The  Literature  of  the  "Kaykavci"     ....     377 

4.  Modern  Servian  and  New  Serbo-Croat  Litera- 

ture       378 

Modern  Servian  Literature — Xew  Serbo-Croat  Litera- 
ture. 


xvi  CONTENTS 


PAGE 


5.  The  Servian  and  Croat  Popular  Epic  and  Lyric 

Poetry 395 

6.  The  Fine  Arts      . 405 

Architecture — Sculpture — Painting. 

7.  Music  and  the  Drama 409 

Drama. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Volume  I 

PROCLAMATION    OF    STEPHEN    DUSHAN    AS    "  EMPEROR    OF 
THE   SERBS  AND    ROMANS "   AT  SKOPLYIA    (uSKUB)    ON 

april  16,  1346  (easter  Sunday)    ....      Frontispiece 

FACING   PAGE 

TYPE  OF  A  FARMER'S  LIVING  HOUSE 42 

DEFILE  OF  GORNYATCH 96 

H.  M.  KING  PETER  I  OF  SERVIA 108 

H.  R.  H.   PRINCE   NICHOLAS  I  OF  MONTENEGRO      ....  132 

RUINS  OF  THE  CASTLE  AT  UZHITZA 180 

RUINS  OF  THE  CASTLE  OF  GOLOOBATZ,  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY  252 

VIEW  OF  BELGRADE  FROM  THE  RAILWAY  BRIDGE        .       .       .  336 

STOYAN  NOVAKOVICH          378 


MAPS 

FACING  PAGE 

Distribution    of    the  different  branches   of  the  Slavonic  Race  in 

Europe 32 

Map  showing  the  Serb-inhabited  Block  of  Territory 168 


PART    I 
THE    SERVIAN    RACE 


THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

THEIR  PAST  GLORY  AND  THEIR  DESTINY 

CHAPTER  I 
THE  SERVIAN  RACE 

"  For  this  cause,  I  bow  my  knees  to  the  Father  from  whom  every 
family  (or  fatherhood)  in  Heaven  or  Earth  is  named." 

(Eph.  4 :  14.) 

THE  Servians  are  Slavs,  speaking  a  Slavonic  lan- 
guage derived,  as  are  the  Russian,  Polish, 
Tcheque,  Bulgarian,  Slovene,  and  Slovak,  from  one 
common  mother  tongue.  They  and  their  forefathers 
have  lived  in  the  lands  they  now  inhabit  from  the 
earliest  antiquity. 

The  Bulletins  et  Mimoires  de  la  Societe  a"  Anthro- 
pologic and  other  publications  have  recorded  the 
results  recently  arrived  at  by  a  careful  series  of  ar- 
chaeological, anthropological,  and  linguistic  researches 
made  by  various  scientific  men,  in  the  regions  of  the 
Balkans  and  other  parts  of  the  Orient,  as  to  the  origin 
of  the  Slav  race.  The  reports  of  the  last  four  or  five 
years  of  the  results  of  the  labors  of  Mr.  Zaborowski 
and  others  form  an  overwhelming  mass  of  evidence 
and  demonstrate  the  following  facts: 

From  prehistoric  ages  Central  Europe,  from  the 
Baltic  to  the  shores  of  the  Adriatic  and  to  the  Black 

3 


4  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

Sea,  together  with  parts  of  northern  Asia  Minor,  was 
inhabited  by  a  race  which  incinerated  its  dead — en- 
closing the  charred  skeleton  and  skull  in  funerary  urns 
which  bear  inscriptions  in  a  single  language  and  con- 
tain objects  of  a  more  or  less  uniform  character. 
From  these  charred  bones  and  these  objects  we  see  that 
this  race  was  mainly  brachycephalous,  and  the  material 
and  fashion  of  the  ornaments  and  objects  indicate 
clearly  the  age  to  which  they  belong,  whether  Stone, 
Bronze,  or  Iron.  This  race  was  mentioned  histori- 
cally by  Homer,  cited  by  Strabo,  as  Hened-Paphlago- 
nians,  and  referred  to  by  succeeding  ancient  writers, 
Herodotus,  Polybius,  Tacitus,  Strabo,  etc.,  who  all 
called  them  Veneds,  Venets,  Windis,  Wendes,  Vendes. 

The  archaeological  evidence  drawn  chiefly  from  the 
cinerary  urns  with  their  inscriptions  and  contents  has 
established  that  the  Veneds  were  a  Slav  race,  and 
the  ancestors  of  the  Slavonic  peoples  which  to-day 
inhabit  the  same  lands  in  Central  and  Eastern  Europe 
and  the  Balkans.  The  Illyrians,  Gaetians,  Dacians, 
and  other  peoples  of  antiquity  inhabiting  the  Danube 
and  Adriatic  regions  were  of  this  ancient  Slav  stock. 

Through  all  the  Vened  migratory  lands  populated 
by  the  Vened-Slavs  the  cinerary  vases  are  similar, 
generally  gray  or  red  baked  clay  partly  or  entirely 
stained  with  brilliant  black  or  gray-black.  In  each, 
sealed  with  its  cover,  is  the  debris  of  the  charred  bones 
of  one  individual,  put  in  often  with  sand,  in  which  lie 
ornaments,  beads,  pins,  fibulas,  rings,  chains.  The 
beads  are  generally  of  blue  glass,  amber,  bone,  or  clay ; 
pins,  buckles,  and  other  ornaments  are  of  bronze,  and 
iron  is  sparsely  introduced  in  some.     The  blue  glass 


THE   SERVIAN   RACE  5 

beads,  even  in  lands  which  could  not  produce  them, 
are  the  same  as  those  found  in  Bosnia,  land  of  the 
Illyrians,  and  on  the  shores  of  the  Baltic  Sea.  These 
urns  sometimes  bore  modelled  a  human  face  and 
were  richly  decorated,  even  with  gems.  The  lids 
represented  hats  and  modes  of  head-gear  similar  in 
style  to  that  worn  to-day  in  those  regions  by  Slav 
races. 

The  archaeological  remains  show  that  early  migra- 
tions occurred  from  the  Adriatic  and  Danubian 
regions  eastward  and  that  some  of  the  tribes  settled 
along  the  Vistula  and  Dnieper. 

These  facts  give  confirmation  to  traditions  recorded 
by  the  Russian  historian  Nestor  in  the  beginning  of 
the  twelfth  century. 

The  whole  Vened-Slav  people  lived  in  tribal  groups 
more  or  less  loosely  bound  together  by  common  race 
and  lanp-uaore.  Their  mode  of  government  was  uni- 
versally,  from  earliest  ages,  by  popular  assembly. 
The  desire  for  conquest  or  tyrannical  mastery  or 
exploitation  of  other  nations  was  singularly  absent 
from  the  Slav  peoples.  Their  courage  in  defending 
their  own  reached  the  point  of  heroism,  but  their 
fundamental  aim  lay  in  the  peaceful  pursuit  of  agri- 
cultural occupations,  home-making,  and  the  getting 
of  a  contented  livelihood  from  mother  earth. 

Among  the  descendants  of  the  tribes  which  had 
gone  to  the  Vistula  from  the  Adriatic  were  several 
which  found  it  necessary  to  group  themselves  together 
for  common  protection,  and  this  making  and  gradual 
strengthening  of  some  bonds  of  union  developed  in 
time  a  sense  of  national  conscience.     It  is  supposed 


6  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

that  the  name  Serbs  or  Srbs,  by  which  this  group 
came  to  be  known,  was  derived  from  the  word  Sabor 
or  Sbor,  the  Slav  word  for  General  Assembly  found 
to-day  in  the  Russian  "Sabor,"  the  Bulgarian  "Sob- 
ranyia,"  the  Servian  and  Croat  "Sabor." 

The  Ser bo-Slovenes  occupied  the  territories  be- 
tween the  Carpathians  and  the  Baltic  Sea,  the  river 
Elbe  and  the  Vistula.  The  chief  tribes  were:  the 
Lyutizi,  Bodritzi  (Obotrits),  Havelani,  Miltchani, 
Lusatians,  Serbi,  Hrvati  (Karpati),  Humlani,  Neret- 
lani,  etc. 

In  640  the  Byzantin  emperor  Heracleus  invited  the 
Serbs,  who  then  occupied  the  northern  slopes  of  the 
Carpathians,  to  aid  in  driving  out  the  Avars,  who  had 
invaded  the  regions  forming  to-day  modern  Servian 
territories.  So  the  Serb  race  came  again  into  the 
lands  of  its  fathers,  to  send  new  roots  down  among  the 
old  ones  into  that  ancient  soil  which,  unconsciously  to 
them,  held  in  the  sealed  funerary  urns  of  its  far-away 
ancestors  the  message  that  to  them  had  God  given 
that  earth  from  the  first  days  of  its  allotment  to  the 
sons  of  men. 

These  lands  populated  by  the  Serb  race  are  to-day 
the  block  of  territories  comprising:  the  kingdom  of 
Servia,  the  principality  of  Montenegro,  the  vilayet 
of  Kossovo,  parts  of  the  vilayets  of  Monastir  and 
Scutary  (Skodra)  in  Macedonia  (European  Turkey), 
Bosnia  and  Hertzegovina,  Dalmatia,  Istria,  Croatia, 
Slavonia,  Banat,  and  Batchka,  in  Austria-Hungary. 

The  total  number  of  the  Servian  race  is  between  ten 
and  eleven  millions. 


PHYSICAL   CHARACTERISTICS  7 

1.    PHYSICAL    CHARACTERISTICS 

The  skull  of  the  Servian  is  generally  brachycepha- 
lous,  the  original  Slavonic  type,  in  some  instances 
modified  by  a  blending  with  the  dolichocephalous 
character,  which  results  in  a  head  generally  round 
and  short,  sometimes  long,  with  a  round  or  oval  face, 
very  rarely  long  and  narrow.  The  face  is  apt  to  be 
broad  and  bony;  the  hair  is  light  or  dark  brown, 
sometimes  black  or  blond;  the  eyes,  even  with  dark 
or  black  hair,  are  generally  gray,  the  true  Slavonic 
eye.  The  complexion  is  mediumly  fair,  rarely 
tawny  or  swarthy.  The  brows  are  straight;  the 
nose,  though  generally  straight,  is  sometimes  aquiline. 
The  base  of  the  nose  between  the  eyes  is  often  rather 
low  than  high.  In  the  main,  the  features  are  classical 
and  sometimes  beautiful. 

The  Serb  is  tall,  surpassing  in  height  all  other 
races  of  the  Balkans  except  the  northern  Albanians 
or  "  Gaegas,"  who  are  also  from  Serb  stock  (speaking 
a  language  with  Slavonic  roots) .  The  average  stature 
of  the  western  and  southern  Servian  is  six  feet.  In 
the  eastern  and  northern  regions  the  average  height 
is  five  feet,  six  inches. 

The  frame  is  brawny,  sinewy,  and  strong,  capable 
of  great  endurance,  and  the  individuals,  both  men 
and  women,  are  well  endowed  with  health  and  often 
beauty  of  a  classical  type. 

The  Physical  Conditions  of  Life. — The  territories 
inhabited  by  the  Serb  race  are  mountainous  in  char- 
acter, formed  by  the  meeting  and  transecting  of  the 
extensions  of  the  great  mountain  systems  of  the  Alps 


8  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

(Dinaric  Alps),  Carpathians,  Albanian  Mountains, 
Balkans,  and  the  Rhodope  Mountains.  The  Servian 
mass  is  cut  by  the  valley  of  the  Morava  River  from 
the  Danube  to  the  plain  of  Nish.  There  is  the  junc- 
tion of  the  two  great  natural  Balkan  roads,  one 
from  Nish  over  Pirot  and  Sofia  in  the  valley  of  the 
river  Maritza  straight  to  Constantinople.  That  high- 
way was  the  old  road  of  the  Crusaders,  and  for  a 
thousand  years  the  landway  of  all  communication 
between  Europe  and  the  East.  The  second  road  also 
crosses  the  plain  of  Nish,  follows  the  valley  of  the 
Morava  River  along  the  Kossovo  valley  through  the 
low,  marshy  watershed  of  Preshevo  where  rise  the 
Morava  and  Vardar  Rivers,  and  thence  lies  through 
the  valley  of  the  Vardar  River  on  down  to  the  iEgean 
Sea  at  Salonika. 

This  old  two-pronged  road  of  the  Crusaders,  which 
is  still  the  road  of  railways  and  of  commerce  from  the 
Danube  to  Constantinople,  on  the  one  hand,  and  to 
Salonika  on  the  other,  makes  of  Servia,  to-day  as  ever, 
the  great  gateway  by  land  from  Europe  to  the 
Orient.  The  climate  is  continental  in  the  eastern  re- 
gions, Mediterranean  in  the  west,  which  gives  a  fa- 
vourable climate  for  the  growing  of  all  kinds  of  food- 
stuffs, grains,  maize  (the  staple  breadstuff ) ,  all  kinds 
of  fruits,  especially  prunes,  with  apples,  cherries, 
apricots,  quinces,  walnuts,  and  grapevines  on  all 
slopes,  figs  and  almonds  in  the  south-west,  with  melons 
and  vegetables,  and  everywhere  a  rich  mast  of  acorns 
in  the  extensive  oak  forests. 

The  popular  food  includes  fruits  and  vegetables — 
beans,  maize,  rice,  cabbage,  onions,  leeks,  red  pep- 


PHYSICAL   CHARACTERISTICS  9 

pers,  etc.  The  meat  food  is  chiefly  pork,  mutton, 
and  also  goat  in  some  districts,  beef  both  fresh  and 
home-cured.  Sour  milk  and  fresh  cheese,  with  young 
onions,  and  in  season  green  corn  boiled  and  eaten 
"  off  the  cob, "  form  a  staple  food.  Every  small  house 
has  its  chicken  for  the  pot  and  its  turkeys,  as  well  as 
its  suckling  pig  for  Christmas. 

The  meat  foods  are  consumed  mostly  in  the  winter 
and  snowy  seasons.  In  the  villages  the  ancient  meth- 
ods of  roasting  meats  are  still  found,  where  the  pigs  or 
lambs  or  game  or  fowl  are  roasted  in  the  earth  or  en- 
veloped in  clay,  the  process  recalling  the  Mexican 
"barbecue." 

The  great  national  beverage  is  spring  water;  what 
liquors  they  use  are  home-made  wine  and  plum 
brandy, "  slivovitza" ;  and  in  districts  where  bees  are 
kept  they  still  make  "mead,"  called  "medovina." 
With  the  modernizing  of  certain  towns  comes  the 
German  beer. 

Clothing. — Even  to-day  throughout  the  countries 
and  remote  districts  the  greater  part  of  the  clothing 
is  home-made,  home-spun,  and  home-grown. 

The  clothing,  especially  among  women,  follows  in 
general  the  character  and  style  indicated  in  the  deco- 
ration of  some  of  the  antique  Slav-Vened  cinerary 
vases  and  certain  small  statuettes  and  figure-vases  of 
the  same  early  period. 

The  basis  seems  to  be  the  tabard,  stole,  or  straight- 
fronted  apron,  often  richly  embroidered,  always  in 
transversal  lines  or  bars,  with  threads  of  gold,  silver, 
black,  and  red,  and  other  colors.  These  long,  narrow 
aprons  are,  for  ordinary  use,  often  woven  heavily  of 


10  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

fine,  many-colored  wool  either  in  the  Kelim  carpet- 
stitch  or  the  tapestry  point  similar  to  that  used  in 
"Beauvais."  The  main  gown  is  white,  of  home- 
woven  linen,  with  embroidered  border  on  skirt,  and 
flowing  sleeves.  For  workaday  wear  a  coloured 
skirt  of  woollen  weave  is  much  used,  over  the  white 
one,  and  tucked  up  on  one  side  to  disclose  the  finer 
one  beneath ;  a  sleeveless  vest,  of  velvet  or  silk  or  fine 
cloth  often  richly  embroidered  with  gold  and  shutting 
with  embroidered  gold  buttons  encrusted  with  coral; 
and  over  these  garments  is  worn  either  a  short  coat, 
a  kind  of  zouave,  with  sleeves,  or  a  long  coat  cut  in 
long  lines  to  follow  the  body  and  slightly  flaring 
toward  the  bottom.  Either  of  these  coats  is  made  of 
white  stiff  felt  black-embroidered,  white  sheepskin 
with  the  short,  curled  fleece  inside  and  the  outside 
cured  soft  and  left  white  and  embroidered  in  bands 
near  the  woolly  edges  with  black  wool,  or  of  richest 
Venetian  silk  velvet,  generally  some  bright  shade  of 
crimson  embroidered  with  gold.  On  the  head  is  worn 
a  small  cap  with  black  rim  and  red  top,  embroidered 
in  gold,  with  a  rose,  and  on  festival  days  strings  of 
gold  or  silver  coins  are  hung  upon  this  cap  or  on  the 
hair.  The  jewels,  of  antique  and  often  beautiful  design, 
include  heavy  buckles  and  richly  wrought  belts  of 
silver  or  brass  studded  with  cabochons  of  glass,  or 
gems,  corals,  or  other  metals.  At  the  recent  Servian 
exhibition  at  Earls  Court,  London,  there  were  seen 
great  quantities  of  these  gorgeous  ornaments,  some 
of  which  were  bought  for  the  Metropolitan  Museum, 
New  York.  In  the  exhibition  were  also  many  beau- 
tiful objects    and    accessories   to  the  toilet,  wrought 


PHYSICAL  CHARACTERISTICS         11 

in  finest  silver  filigree,  so  exquisite  in  design  and 
of  such  fragile  and  delicate  appearance  that  it 
suggested  more  the  work  of  frost  than  of  human 
fingers.  Among  hand-woven  materials  for  feminine 
apparel  were  sheer  silken  textures  of  snowy  white, 
sometimes  gold-flecked,  or  wrought  with  beautiful 
border  patterns  of  antique  design  where  gold  or 
silver  threads  ran  with  faint  traceries  of  crimson 
and  black. 

The  foot-gear  for  men  and  women  alike,  the 
"opanka,"  worn  over  heavy  wool  stockings,  is  the 
leather  sandal  of  antiquity  with  thongs  and  straps 
across  the  ankles.  In  heavy  winter  weather  there 
are  worn  inside  of  the  sandal,  and  held  strapped  with 
the  thongs,  soft  leather  boots  or  stockings  made  some- 
times of  sheepskin  with  the  woolly  surface  next  the 
skin. 

The  women  wear  a  small  knife  or  dagger,  a  custom 
left  over  from  Turkish  times. 

In  districts  like  Montenegro  and  some  of  the  higher 
mountains,  the  men  still  carry,  in  a  heavy  leather  belt, 
a  pistol  or  two  besides  the  knife,  and  in  some  cases 
the  old  yatagan,  or  "hanjar." 

A  curious  feature  of  the  costume  of  the  men,  which 
has  been  noticed  by  archaeologists,  is  the  pantaloon 
or  trousers,  a  garment  which  in  some  form  has  been 
worn  by  the  Slav  races,  as  shown  by  sculptural  re- 
mains, from  remote  epochs.  It  has  been  remarked 
that  other  races  in  lands  where  the  Slav  peoples  have 
lived  have  adopted  from  them  this  Slavonic  fashion. 
The  basis  of  the  Servian  countryman's  costume  is 
either  the  narrow,  long  trousers  or  wider  breeches  to 


12  THE  SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

the  knees,  with  some  fashion  of  legging,  a  blouse  or 
shirt,  a  short,  sleeveless  waistcoat  of  crimson  or  black 
richly  embroidered  in  gold  or  silk,  and  over  this  short 
waistcoat,  another  short,  long-sleeved  cloth  coat  or 
jacket,  and  in  cold  weather  a  long  and  ample  coat,  of 
either  sheepskin  worn  with  fur  side  in,  or  a  coat  of 
heavy  felt  or  cloth  fur-lined.  The  material  of  the 
men's  coat  and  trousers  is  thick  homespun,  of  dark 
gray,  brown,  or  natural  white,  similar  in  texture  to 
the  heaviest  hand-woven  frieze  produced  by  the 
Scottish  and  Irish  cottage  industries.  On  the  head  is 
worn  either  a  small  cap  of  silk  and  cloth  or  a  "  kalpak  " 
of  fur.  In  some  districts  the  men  wear  a  skull-cap  of 
red  or  white  fitting  down  tight  over  the  top  of  the 
head. 

In  many  districts,  where  the  houses  are  still  built 
according  to  the  old  customs  which  accompanied  the 
"Zadruga"  and  its  kindred  form  of  social  organiza- 
tion, the  ruling  characteristic  of  the  structure  is  a  large 
hearth  in  the  centre  of  the  big  main  room,  which 
serves  as  living-room  and  kitchen  combined,  where 
logs  of  wood  are  used  as  fuel,  the  smoke  being  gath- 
ered together  by  an  ample  funnel-shaped  contrivance 
high  above  the  fire,  and  finally  escaping  through  the 
chimney  on  the  roof.  In  this  funnel-shaped  smoke- 
cradle  are  beams  and  cross-beams  where  continually 
hang  the  hams,  bacon,  beef,  mutton,  and  goat  to  be 
smoked.  From  these  beams  hang  chains  for  various 
cooking-pots.  All  baking  is  done  in  a  special  oven  of 
clay  which  is  fixed  either  in  the  wall  of  the  house  or  in 
the  court-yard  outside.  With  the  more  numerous  and 
complicated  family  or  Zadruga,  around  this  central 


PHYSICAL   CHARACTERISTICS         13 

house  containing  the  family  fire  are  built  small 
wooden  houses  or  huts  called  "vayat,"  of  one  or  two 
rooms,  for  the  younger  married  members  of  the  fam- 
ily. The  group  of  buildings  often  includes  a  special 
guest-house  for  the  offering  of  hospitality.  Gardens 
and  orchards  of  plum-trees  and  other  fruit-trees  gen- 
erally surround  the  building  on  all  sides.  The  Servian 
saying  is  that,  "Where  the  plum-tree  grows  the 
ground  is  good."  Back  of  the  gardens  are  the  stables 
and  sheds  for  the  beasts,  and  an  important  building 
in  a  Servian  family  community  is  the  granary,  where 
maize  and  wheat  and  other  grains  are  stored,  extra 
provisions  being  always  laid  up  for  the  rainy  day, 
the  day  of  fighting-troubles,  or  other  unforeseen 
dangers. 

When  the  houses  are  two-story  high  and  contain 
many  rooms,  the  lower  part  or  basement  is  often  of 
stone,  the  upper  part  of  wood,  overhanging  the  lower 
story,  and  the  extension  often  rests  on  beams  or  on 
posts  or  pillars  which  give  the  effect  of  colonnades  or 
cloisters  when  the  house  is  richly  made.  The  separate 
rooms  are  warmed  by  a  brazier  of  burning  charcoal 
called  "mangal." 

The  inner  decoration  of  the  house  consists  gener- 
ally of  home-made  carpets  and  hangings  of  the  same 
stitch  called  Tchillims  (Persian  "kelim"). 

As  with  all  Slavs,  the  Serbs  are  very  prolific  and 
consider  that  a  family  is  blessed  by  the  great  number 
of  its  children.  A  woman  owns  special  consideration 
for  being  the  mother  of  many.  "The  woman  homes 
the  house,"  is  a  Servian  proverb. 


14  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

2.    MORAL   CHARACTERISTICS   AND    RELIGION 

In  considering  the  moral  characteristics  of  the 
Servians,  the  attention  is  first  struck  by  their  spirit  of 
independence  and  next  by  their  love  of  home.  The 
spirit  of  independence  expressed  and  demonstrated 
in  their  forms  of  social  and  administrative  organiza- 
tions from  remotest  times,  such  as  popular  participa- 
tion by  discussion  in  all  decisions  affecting  the  general 
welfare  of  the  Serb  group,  tribe,  clan,  principality, 
state,  or  empire;  democratic  institutions  of  justice; 
early  trial  by  jury,  etc.,  and  the  immemorial  national 
assembly,  or  Sbor,  from  which  their  very  name  is  said 
to  be  derived.  This  spirit  of  freedom  and  respect  of 
the  individual  has  been  through  the  ages  the  strength 
and  glory  of  the  Serb  people  as  it  was  of  the  great 
Slav  race  of  antiquity  through  which  its  life  streams 
descended.  This  characteristic,  grown  sometimes  to 
excess,  and  its  correlative,  love  of  peaceful  life  with 
absence  of  the  desire  of  conquest,  has  been  also  its 
weakness,  and  has,  at  several  periods  of  its  history, 
submitted  it  to  conquest  by  warring  invaders,  and 
has  always  generated  the  reactionary  or  resistant 
force  against  which  the  tendencies  and  necessities  for 
strong  national  union  have  been  forced  to  contend. 
So  true  is  this  that  they  themselves  recognized  the 
value  to  them  of  St.  Sava's  proverb,  "Samo  Sloga 
Srbina  Spasava,"  and  they  adopted  it  as  the  national 
motto.  The  four  C's  or  S's  between  the  limbs  of  the 
cross  on  the  shield  in  the  national  arms  are  the  initials 
of  that  motto,  the  translation  of  which  is:  Only  Union 
(is)  Servian  Salvation. 


MORAL   CHARACTERISTICS  15 

The  other  fundamental  Servian  characteristic, 
love  of  home,  is  like  unto  the  first,  and  about  the 
central  hearth-fire  group  all  the  more  intimate  per- 
sonal ideals  of  life  and  of  the  relation  of  human  beings 
to  one  another. 

The  Serb,  like  his  racial  ancestor  before  him,  has  no 
instinct  for  the  conquest  of  other  nations.  The  de- 
sire to  subjugate  and  rule  other  races  and  force  their 
productive  capacity  to  yield  its  results  into  his  own 
national  treasures,  or  to  press  the  sons  of  other  lands 
into  Serb  military  service  for  further  conquests  among 
the  nations,  has  never  formed  any  part  of  the  Servian 
aspiration;  nor  does  their  history  show  that  any  war 
of  greed  or  gain  was  ever  undertaken  by  the  Serb 
race.  If,  however,  the  Serb  has  been  loath  to  shed 
the  blood  of  his  neighbors  in  order  to  rob  them  of 
their  possessions,  he  has  been  swift  to  draw  the  sword 
and  slow  to  put  it  down  in  the  defence  of  his  own 
home  and  his  beloved  liberty.  He  also  has  been  ready 
to  fight  for  any  other  nation  when  the  principle  of 
home  defence  was  at  stake,  and  many  times  for  that 
cause  has  he  spilled  his  blood  freely  for  Austria  and 
Hungary  and  other  neighbouring  states;  and  so  far 
back  as  the  Trojan  war  Homer  tells  us,  according  to 
Strabo,  that  his  ancestors  brought  their  troops  to 
defend  Troy. 

Serb  valor  and  heroism  have  been  shown  through 
the  centuries  in  their  unceasing  fight  to  preserve  their 
liberties,  first  against  Byzance,  then  the  Turks  on  the 
east,  and  against  the  Germanic  and  Magyar  nations 
on  the  north  and  west.  In  this  unceasing  battle  of 
self-defence  against  great  nations  the  Serbs  have  al- 


16  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

ways  been  a  handful  against  a  host,  a  few  against  a  far 
outnumbering  enemy.  What  we  fight  for  we  love, 
so  the  Serb  has  loved  his  home,  his  mother  earth, 
with  a  peculiarly  tender  and  changeless  affection. 
He  will  not  give  it  up;  it  is  saturated  with  his  blood 
and  purified  by  the  sacred  fire  of  his  devotion.  It  has 
belonged  to  his  race  since  the  beginning  of  historic 
time.  He  believes  that  it  is  a  part  of  himself.  What- 
ever conquest  may  come  or  go — and  all  conquests  from 
Gaul  to  Turk  that  ever  came  through  the  ages  have 
always  gone  again,  and  left  the  Slav— the  Serb  remains 
unvarying  in  his  sense  of  eternality.  It  is  a  moral 
characteristic  remarked  by  many,  this  confidence  in 
his  final  destiny,  when  what  he  has  fought  for,  prayed 
for,  and  sung  will  be  attained;  that  is,  liberty  to  de- 
velop peacefully  his  ideals. 

The  qualities  most  noticed  in  the  Serb  by  foreign 
travellers  and  writers,  his  hospitality  and  quick  sym- 
pathy, his  wit  and  love  of  merriment,  of  song  and 
dance  and  keen  practical  proverbs,  his  pride  and 
grand-seigneurism,  that  native  air  of  princeliness  of 
the  Servian  mountaineer,  commented  upon  by  many 
travellers,  and  which  derives  no  doubt  from  his  sense 
of  freedom  and  the  fact  of  his  having  always  owned 
a  home,  and  having  been  ready  and  able  to  defend  it 
with  the  sword — these  characteristics  of  the  soldier- 
farmer,  despising  conquest  yet  chanting  all  heroic 
deeds  and  possessing  a  mentality  highly  sensitive  to 
cultural  tendencies,  delighting  in  song  and  in  science, 
have  held  their  own,  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of 
his  history,  during  the  long  ages  of  battle  in  guard  of 
his  home,  and  during  those"  periods  of  comparative 


MORAL   CHARACTERISTICS  17 

peace  when  he  has  been  able  to  rest  awhile  on 
his  sword. 

The  Serb  genius  was  near  to  a  rich  flowering  at  the 
end  of  the  fourteenth  century  when  the  terrific  Turk- 
ish onrush  and  subsequent  relentless  pressure  of  the 
Ottoman,  hacking  and  burning  his  way  westward, 
overthrew  the  imperial  throne  and  Servian  empire 
and  overwhelmed  its  dawning  glory  of  culture  and 
civilization  in  sudden  night  and  terror.  All  humane 
graces  and  creations  of  the  intelligence  were  trampled, 
like  the  young  grain  in  the  fields,  under  the  feet  of 
the  fierce  myriads.  From  that  time  to  within  less 
than  a  century  ago  the  Serb  people  have  bent  every 
force  of  physical  and  mental  skill  to  the  regaining 
of  their  freedom. 

In  fighting  for  their  homes  they  became  the  bul- 
wark of  Europe  against  the  Turks.  That  long  battle, 
though  it  put  in  abeyance  the  main  cultural  develop- 
ment of  the  race,  was  yet  not  entirely  able  to  hinder 
all  expression  of  its  genius.  On  those  charred  fields, 
from  the  blood  of  its  heroes,  and  among  its  ruined 
castles,  grew  white  flowers  of  national  hope,  and 
murmurs  and  music  of  immortality  breathed  new 
life  and  sense  of  grandeur  into  the  Servian  soul.  The 
tales  of  the  heroes  chanted  in  verse  bred  new  heroes. 

Since  earliest  times  men  of  all  nations  having  deal- 
ings with  the  Serb  peoples  have  put  on  record  the 
custom  among  them  of  recounting  their  national  past 
history,  as  well  as  contemporary  events,  in  ballad 
form.  These  songs  and  ballads  were  chanted  to  the 
sound  of  the  "gouzla,"  a  violin  with  one  string, 
either  by  bards  passing  from  one  village  to  another  or 


18  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

by  members  of  the  family  or  Zadruga.  The  his- 
torical events  so  enshrined  may  or  may  not  have 
retained  the  exact  similitude  of  what  actually  oc- 
curred ;  heroes  are  apt  to  grow  taller  with  the  years 
— except  in  times  of  national  decadence,  when  even 
the  gods  fall  from  their  heavens  and  dwindle  to 
pygmies. 

However  that  may  be,  these  bards  have  always 
been   teachers   as  well   as  chroniclers.     They   have 
nursed  the  Serb  child  in  its  history  and  the  ideas  of 
its  race.    The  Servian  ballad  lore  came  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  Europe  with  the  Servian  revolution  at  the 
beginning  of  last  century,  especially  with  the  publi- 
cation by  Vouk  S.  Karajich,  in  1814,  of  his  collection 
of  ballads,  chants,  and  songs  taken  down  from  word 
of  mouth  from  the  people  during  the  time  of  his  service 
as  secretary  to  one  of  the  revolutionary  leaders.    That 
collection  made  known  to  the  world  the  old  heroic  and 
modern  poetry  and  ballads  and  their  place  in  excel- 
lence, above  the  folk-songs  in  beauty  and  grandeur, 
of  any  other  European  people.     They  deal  with  the 
highest  themes  of  human  life  and  heroic  action,  sub- 
lime ideal  and  devotion  to  national  freedom.  Goethe 
was  among  the  writers  who  at  once  made  translations 
from  them  into  Western  tongues,  and  he  ranked  them 
with  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey.     These  publications,  in 
their   treasure   of   poetry    and   exalted    heroism,    of 
homely  philosophy  and  wit  as  well  as  of  spiritual  or 
mystical    apprehension    of   daily    life    and    sense    of 
beauty,  were  a  revelation  of  the  Servian  mind  and 
character  as  it  had  not  been  known  prior  to  that  time. 
This  high  poetic  capacity  is  not  the  only  indication 


MORAL  CHARACTERISTICS  19 

of  the  strong  cultural  and  intellectual  tendencies  of 
the  Servian  race,  men  remarkable  the  world  over  in 
artistic  and  scientific  attainment,  from  the  painters 
Schiavone  and  Carpaccio  of  the  Renaissance  to  such 
as  Ruggiero  Boshkovitch,  V.  S.  Karadjich,  Danitch- 
itch,  Iosif  Panchich,  Professor  Jagitch,  V.  Bogish- 
itch,  Nicola  Tesla,  Professor  Cvijitch,  Dr.  Petronie- 
vitch,  etc.,  men  of  Serb  stock,  as  were  also  the  Hun- 
garian, Kossuth,  Francis  Deak,  and  the  greatest  of 
Hungarian  poets,  Petoffyi  Sandor  (died  1849),  whose 
real  name  was  Alexa  Petrovitch.  Many  generals  and 
statesmen  who  have  served  in  Russia  and  Austria, 
especially  in  the  latter  state;  Grasalkovitch,  the  great 
minister  of  Maria  Theresa ;  and  the  generals  Quosda- 
novitch,  Davidovitch,  Roditch,  Jovanovitch,  Maroich- 
ich,  Grivitchich,  Philipovitch  Jellachich,  Rukavina, 
among  others  who  contributed  to  the  glory  of  the 
Austrian  army,  evidence  the  same  capacities  in  the 
individual  of  which  the  race  as  a  whole  gave  proof 
in  the  last  century,  in  the  rapid  organization  of  the 
state  for  the  kingdom  in  1804,  and  the  manner  in 
which,  under  many  discouraging  conditions,  they 
hastened  to  create  in  their  newly  redeemed  land 
efficient  administrative  machinery  and  institutions 
of  learning,  even  before  the  smoke  of  battle  had  well 
cleared  from  the  field  where  their  liberty  was  won,  and 
before  the  enemy  was  well  over  the  border. 

The  Servian  is  interested  in  every  new  idea,  greedy 
to  learn,  as  are  those  long  debarred  from  opportunity 
for  natural  progress.  He  is  in  danger  at  times  of  not 
being  able  to  compare  and  judge  exactly  ideas  pro- 
posed to  him  from  the  outside.    In  his  sincere  admi- 


20  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

ration  of  what  other  peoples  have  written  and  done, 
in  his  desire  for  growth  and  progress,  he  may  be  in 
danger  to-day  of  keeping  too  open  a  mind  toward 
some  ideas,  social  and  philosophical,  which  have 
proved  poisonous  in  the  lands  of  their  origin  and 
which  would  be  even  more  deadly  to  the  Serb. 

The  Serb  is  tenacious  of  purpose,  but  not  in  dogged 
fashion  like  the  Bulgarian.  The  surface  of  his  reso- 
lution appears  to  rise  and  subside,  but  the  depths  are 
changeless. 

During  the  long  period  of  the  Turkish  domination 
the  Servian  always  remained  in  a  state  of  insurrec- 
tion, either  latent  or  active,  according  to  times  and 
tides. 

The  heroism  of  the  Serb  in  wars  of  defence  or 
liberation  has  always  been  absolute. 

An  incident  in  the  sixteenth  century  of  the  long 
struggle  between  Christian  Serb  and  Moslem  Turk, 
recounted  by  a  survivor  on  the  Serb  side,  and  by  the 
Turkish  historians,  which  is  the  subject  of  a  Ger- 
man poetic  drama  by  Theodor  Korner,  forms  a 
picturesque  illustration,  not  only  of  Serb  heroism 
and  scorn  of  life,  where  the  fortunes  of  their  just 
cause  were  at  stake,  but  is  characteristic  of  the 
tragedy  and  romance  which  gleamed  in  and  out  of 
the  dark  woof  of  Serbo-Turkish  history. 

The  Servian  Count  Nicholas  Zriny,  with  his  own 
men,  all  Serbs,  was  defending  the  castle  of  Szigeth 
against  the  Turkish  army  commanded  in  person  by 
Sultan  Suleyman  the  Magnificent.  Under  firm  con- 
trol, the  few  Serbs  fought,  every  man,  as  an  arrow 
to  the  bow  bent,  striking  home. 


MORAL   CHARACTERISTICS  21 

The  beleaguering  Turks,  surging  in  vain  for  hours 
about  the  fortress,  were  unable  to  make  headway 
except  across  heaps  of  their  own  slain.  When  at  last, 
after  stanch  resistance,  and  when  the  Servian  num- 
bers were  nearly  spent,  Zriny  saw  that  the  place  could 
no  longer  hold  out,  he  threw  open  the  gates  to  the 
enemy's  forces,  and,  at  the  moment  when  they  stormed 
within,  the  wife  of  the  Count,  in  execution  of  her 
husband's  commands,  and  with  true  Serb  spirit,  put 
fire  to  the  powder  magazines  and  blew  up  the  castle, 
themselves,  and  the  masses  of  Turks  who  had  pressed 
into  the  stronghold. 

Staring  upon  this  grim  scene  with  wide,  fixed  eyes, 
sitting  bolt  upright  in  the  chair  of  command  before 
his  silken  tent,  was  Sultan  Suleyman  the  Magnificent. 
But  the  reverberations  and  terror  did  not  move  him, 
and  the  gazing  eyes  beheld  no  earthly  image,  for  the 
final  conqueror  of  all  conquerors  had  passed  in  the 
early  morning.  The  stone-cold  body  had  been  set 
up  in  all  its  gorgeous  trappings  by  the  Grand  Vizir, 
Mehemet  Sokolovitch,  in  fear  for  the  Turkish  soldiers 
to  know  that  their  all-glorious  leader  and  master  was 
dead. 

This  Sokolovitch,  the  mightiest  through  the  cen- 
turies of  all  the  Turkish  grand  vizirs,  was  a  Serb 
who  had  been  carried  away  as  an  infant  to  Constan- 
tinople by  the  Turkish  "blood-tax"  collectors,  who 
every  seven  years  swept  through  the  conquered  dis- 
tricts to  tear  all  Christian  male  children  from  their 
parents  and  take  them  to  Constantinople,  where  they 
were  renamed  and  trained  up  as  Moslems  and  fight- 
ers to  serve  the  Ottoman  state.    They  were  generally 


22  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

enrolled  among  the  "Yenichari"  (Janissaries),  the 
fiercest  legion  known  to  history,  used  by  the  Sultans 
to  conquer  and  hold  down  the  Serb  lands. 

Such  traits  occur  all  along  the  way  of  Servian  his- 
tory. Those  who  pass  by  Nish  to-day  can  see  by  the 
roadside  "The  Tower  of  Sculls,"  set  up  by  the  Turks 
in  1806,  and  which  they  studded  with  the  heads  of 
the  men  under  Sindjelitch  some  hundreds  strong,  who 
also  held  a  vast  Turkish  army  at  bay,  hoping  to  give 
time  for  the  arrival  of  Servian  reinforcements,  and 
finally  when  further  resistance  was  vain  the  Serbs 
deliberately  threw  open  the  stronghold  and  blew  it  up, 
with  themselves  and  large  numbers  of  the  enemies. 

The  Serbs  are  not  snobbish  or  cringing,  and  sup- 
port principle  rather  than  an  individual.  They  will 
not  follow  an  individual  for  the  sake  of  personality, 
but  for  the  principles  he  represents,  and  for  the  same 
reason  they  are  apt  to  appear  disloyal  and  forsake 
instantly  a  man,  however  popular,  who  appears  to 
weaken  in  point  of  principle.  They  are  jealous- 
natured,  fond  of  political  and  historical  discussion. 
Peasants  or  simple  farm  laborers  will  come  to  hard 
words,  and  even  blows,  over  some  old  historical  event 
of  their  own  national  history. 

A  story  is  told  by  an  English  traveller  who  saw  two 
men  fall  to  fisticuffs,  and  discovered  on  inquiry  that 
the  cause  of  the  violence  was  a  discussion  regarding 
the  battle  of  Kossovo,  which  brought  about  the  fall 
of  the  Servian  empire  some  five  hundred  years  ago. 

They  cling  to  their  ancient  glory  and  have  implicit 
faith  in  future  Servian  destiny.  A  sense  of  the  secular 
persistence  of  their  race  is  shown  by  the  early  Slavs 


MORAL   CHARACTERISTICS  23 

of  the  same  region,  in  the  passing  of  successive  con- 
quering invasions  over  them,  as  wind  over  the  grass, 
that  rises  again  after  it  has  swept  by.  Empires  were 
superposed  on  them,  rose,  fell,  and  utterly  disap- 
peared, leaving  always  the  Slav,  as  if  he  were  an  in- 
digenous perpetual  growth  from  the  sod  itself. 

The  Servian  is  deeply  religious,  lmt  shrinks  from 
religious  discussions.  He  considers  his  religion  a  part 
of  himself,  and  the  daily  life  takes  constant  note  of 
his  relation  to  the  Unseen:  to  the  (ireat  Creator  of 
all,  to  his  Son,  and  to  all  his  saints,  and  to  many 
other  symbolized  forces  of  nature:  nymphs,  spirits  of 
woods,  water,  fire,  and  wind,  and  spirits  good  and  evil, 
which  have  been  a  Living  reality  with  him  from  an- 
cient pagan  times  and  have  come  on  down  to  dwell 
alongside  of  his  Christianity. 

By  long  custom,  half  unconsciously,  by  second  na- 
ture, he  remembers  ( rod  in  all  time  of  his  daily  duties 
and  pleasures.  The  Church  is  a  part  of  himself  and 
identified  with  all  that  he  is  or  that  belongs  to  him; 
it  i-  a  part  of  his  family,  of  his  community,  and  of 
his  nation.  He  has  no  conception  of  them  apart  from 
it,  any  more  than  he  would  have  an  idea  of  him- 
self and  his  life  apart  from  the  earth.  He  is  only 
semi-conscious  of  these  conceptions.  He  could  not 
understand  the  existence  of  the  Serb  nation  without 
the  Orthodox  Christian  Church.  He  cannot  under- 
stand religious  propaganda  which  would  aim  at  sep- 
arating him  from  what  to  him  is  an  integral  part  of 
his  being,  neither  has  he  any  inclination  to  make 
propaganda  to  induce  others  to  profess  his  own  faith. 
The  invoking  of  God's  protection  and  making  of  the 


24  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

triple  sign  of  the  cross  prefaces  in  some  form  the 
familiar  acts  of  the  day.  If  a  friend  calls  and  the 
wine-jug  is  brought  out,  however  merry  the  meeting 
may  be,  God's  blessing  is  invoked  by  the  one  who 
offers  and  the  one  who  receives  the  cup.  It  is  a  cus- 
tom like  saying  "good-day.'' 

At  all  family  festivals  three  toasts  are  drunk,  first 
to  the  glory  of  God,  praying  that  he  will  be  helpful 
to  all  men ;  the  second  is  to  the  holy  cross ;  and  the 
third  to  the  Holy  Trinity  with  invocation  for  blessing 
"to  all  men  in  all  places."  On  all  occasions  of  gath- 
ering together,  whether  with  festive  or  serious  intent, 
blessings  are  asked  or  prayers  offered  up.  These 
prayers  are  usually  spontaneous.  On  the  occasion  of 
celebrations  or  happy  social  gatherings,  should  there 
chance  to  be  present  any  one  with  an  especial  poetic 
gift,  he  is  invited  to  improvise  a  prayer  for  the  cir- 
cumstance. These  invocations  are  taken  as  a  matter 
of  course  and  part  of  the  nature  of  things,  not  as 
being  any  unusual  exercise.1 

The  saints  are  to  the  Serb  countryman  a  reality 
not  seen  by  the  human  eye,  but  perceived  as  an  actual 

1  It  would  appear  that  this  attitude  of  mind  toward  religion  and  race 
ideala  holds  the  secret  of  the  imperishable  quality  that  has  been  so  widely- 
remarked  concerning  the  ever-present  consciousness  of  their  glorious  past 
achievements  and  the  firm  belief  of  the  Serbs  in  their  destiny  as  a  people. 
The  Servians  of  to-day,  however,  are  threatened  by  a  greater  danger  than 
any  they  have  had  to  meet  from  the  Turks  on  the  field  of  battle,  an  insidi- 
ous, imperceptible  danger;  one,  it  may  be  feared,  which  their  past  experi- 
ence has  not  prepared  them  to  sufficiently  recognize  or  cope  with. 

One  of  the  phenomena  of  modern  political  methods,  in  regard  to  the 
conquest  and  subjugation  of  one  nation  by  another,  is  the  importance 
allotted  to  the  destruction  of  national  forces  from  within;  the  introduction 
by  some  appeal  to  the  mind  of  ideas  which  under  the  guise  of  greater 
liberality  or  scientific  exactitude,  or  some  higher  and  broader  conception 
of  humanity,  are  fallacies  clothed  in  high-sounding  but  empty  words, 


MORAL   CHARACTERISTICS  25 

presence.  "Sve-Vishnye,"  or  "  Sve-Vishnye-Bog," 
the  most  high  God,  delegates  to  his  saints  the  guard- 
ianship of  certain  forces  of  nature :  so  St.  Peter  keeps 
the  gates  of  heaven;  St.  Paul  protects  wine  and 
wheat;  St.  Elias  has  the  thunder  and  lightning  and  in 
that  quality  he  is  aid  to  St.  Peter;  St.  Mary  of  the  Fire; 
St.  Thomas  is  guardian  of  the  rain-clouds;  Archangel 
Michael  regulates  the  autumn  weather;  St.  Nicholas 
is  protector  of  all  waters,  the  ocean  and  its  ships,  the 
rivers,  lakes,  and  springs;  St.  Sava  is  the  guardian  of 
snow  and  ice;  St.  Pantheleymon  has  charge  of  the 
summer  heat;  St.  John  the  Baptist  is  the  patron  of 
all  brotherhoods  and  "Koomstvo,"  or  godfathership. 
St.  George  is  much  honoured  among  Serbs  as  among 
all  Slavs.  He  is  the  guardian  of  the  flowers  of  spring 
and  of  lambs,  the  defender  of  all  young  growing 
things,  whether  herb  or  animal.  When  Christianity 
was  adopted  the  old  god  of  spring  and  young  life  was 
baptised  into  the  faith  as  St.  George.  His  flower  is 
the  lily  of  the  valley,  "Djordjevka."  To  the  old  god 
was  sacrificed  a  young  lamb,  so  no  young  lamb  is 
killed  before  St.  George's  day,  April  24,  when 
through  all  the  Servian  villages  a  young  lamb  is  killed 

allowing  for  pose  and  the  magnificent  gesture.  They  natter  the  intelligence 
in  its  unceasing  and  divine  tendencies  toward  progress,  and  by  teaching  it 
to  seek  new  developments  through  other  formulas  than  those  evolved  by 
its  own  genius,  sow  distrust  of  itself,  rousing  sometimes  contempt  of  its 
own  familiar  ways,  breeding  discontent,  which,  by  degrees,  gnaws  and  eats 
away  the  old  foundations  and  corrodes  the  sources  of  its  national  faith, 
until  at  last,  one  by  one,  the  old  strongholds  of  national  belief  which  had 
been  a  people's  strength  through  the  ages  crumble  into  dust  at  the  feet  of 
its  enemies,  self-destroyed.  It  has  been  calculated  that  what  would  never 
yield  either  to  the  sword  or  to  shot  or  shell  of  Krupp  guns  might  be  wholly 
subjugated  and  forever  put  an  end  to  by  these  methods  of  moral  and 
mental  corruption,  this  new  and  scientific  conjuring  and  bewitchment  of 
a  people's  central  thought-forces,  to  bring  it  to  self-disintegration. 


26  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

and  eaten  in  his  honour.  That  day  is  often  chosen  in 
which  to  consecrate  the  "Pobratimstvo,"  or  sacred 
bond  of  "brotherhood"  among  two  friends. 

The  general  idea  of  heaven  is  that  of  successive 
regions  of  varying  degrees  of  purity  and  bliss;  some 
say  there  are  seven,  some  say  many  more.  The  low- 
liest is  in  the  blue  sky  which  lies  nearest  to  the  earth. 
In  each  of  these  divine  countries  or  lands  of  the  upper 
world  is  a  station  where  records  must  be  shown  and 
penalty  must  be  paid.  At  death  two  angels  are  sent 
to  conduct  the  soul  on  its  way.  The  idea  is  that  they 
stop  at  the  various  stations  to  examine  his  deeds  done 
in  the  flesh,  and  accordingly  his  place  of  abode  is  de- 
termined and  his  penance  fixed.  Very  few  or  none 
attain  the  "Highest  Heaven"  immediately  upon 
leaving  earth;  most  men  must  work  their  way 
through,  beginning  at  the  lowest,  and  by  deeds  of 
progressive  enlightenment  finally  win  the  Land  of 
Supreme  Gladness. 

During  a  few  days  at  Easter  the  joy  of  resurrection 
time  is  supposed  to  be  so  great  that  all  the  angels  at 
the  various  stations  forget  their  duties  and  all  gates 
remain  open  and  unguarded.  The  persons  who 
chance  to  die  during  those  days  go  straight  into 
whatever  heaven  they  may  have  time  to  reach  with- 
out being  held  to  answer  at  any  station. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  this  belief  is  not  without 
influence  among  the  masses  of  the  populations  in 
leading  the  Serbs  to  choose  Easter  as  the  most  favoured 
moment  for  the  outbreak  of  insurrections  in  the  cause 
of  liberty.  It  is  always  at  this  time  of  the  melting  of 
the  snows,  and  the  return  to  life  of  man  and  nature 


MORAL  CHARACTERISTICS  27 

after  the  period  of  winter  quiescence,  and  when  the 
spirit  of  resurrection  most  deeply  possesses  the 
Servian  soul,  that  his  love  of  liberty  and  patriotic 
ardour  flame  up  the  highest  and  fire  him  to  raise  the 
standard  of  revolt  against  a  foreign  conqueror  to  the 
cry  of  "Christ  is  risen!" 

The  first  outbreak  for  the  freeing  of  modern  Servia 
under  Karageorge  occurred  at  Easter-tide  in  1804, 
and  it  was  on  Palm  Sunday,  in  1815,  when  that  first 
insurrection  had  appeared  to  be  crushed,  that  Milosh 
Obrenovitch  stood  forth  before  the  church  of  Ta- 
kovo,  holding  the  Serb  standard  and  crying  out: 
"Here  am  I  and  here  is  war  to  the  Turk,"  and  so 
began  the  last  rebellion  which  finally  freed  modern 
Servia;  and  throughout  Serb  lands  all  uprisings  in 
the  attempt  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  foreign  domi- 
nation have  burst  forth  near  the  time  of  the  resur- 
rection day. 

One  of  the  Servian  notions  is  that  as  Christ  had 
his  star,  so  with  the  birth  of  each  individual  a  star  is 
born  which  endures  while  the  person  lives  and  dis- 
appears with  him  when  he  dies,  presumably  to  follow 
him  to  the  land  of  his  new  life.  Shooting  stars  show 
the  death  of  some  one.  This  idea  corresponds  to  an 
old  Indian  belief.  Another  popular  conception  is 
that  one  week  after  the  birth  of  every  child  a  "Vila" 
named  "Oussoud,"  or  fate  (the  verb  "ossouditi" 
means  to  judge),  stands  by  the  child's  cradle  and 
pronounces  its  destiny.  The  mother  does  not  see  the 
Vila  but  she  can  feel  the  presence,  and  sometimes  in 
deep  quiet,  by  straining  her  ears  and  attention,  she 
can  hear  the  fateful  judgment.    It  is  believed  that  the 


28  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

day  of  death  is  preordained.  Another  belief  is  that 
once  in  the  year,  at  Epiphany,  God  visits  the  earth. 
The  day  is  called"  Bogoyavlyenye,"  or"  God-visiting." 

Every  human  being  has  his  or  her  little  devil,  always 
ready  to  whisper  evil  in  contest  with  the  good  angel 
who  always  speaks  good  thoughts  and  good  advice. 

Besides  the  angels  and  the  saints,  each  person,  each 
family  and  family  group  has  its  patron  saint.  In 
pagan  times  these  patron  saints  were  the  family 
"God"  and  represented  ancestor- worship.  The 
greatest  insult  then,  as  it  is  now,  was  something 
uttered  against  "Thy  (family)  God"  or  "Thy  (fam- 
ily) Saint."  A  world  of  unseen  beings,  both  good 
and  evil,  symbolising  nature  forces  surround  human 
life  and  take  part  in  its  affairs  according  to  the  de- 
sires or  nature  of  the  individual. 

The  sorceress,  or  "  veshtiza,"  is  an  evil  spirit  which 
has  taken  possession  of  or  been  embodied  in  some 
old  woman  of  bad  character.  The  vampire  may 
also  be  embodied  in  some  human  being  or  mostly  in 
some  buried  dead  body,  and  come  out  of  the  grave 
to  suck  the  blood  or  the  strength  of  the  living. 

A  bad  spirit  which  roams  between  heaven  and 
earth  is  a  kind  of  dragon-woman,  called  "Halla," 
whose  special  delight  is  to  destroy  the  crops  by  hail 
and  sleet.  In  the  villages  sometimes  are  "Vetren- 
yatzi"  (spirits  of  the  wind) ;  some,  like  "Halla,"  bring 
on  the  storm,  but  generally  they  are  good  and  ward 
away  the  hail  and  sleet.  In  one  of  Janko  Vesselino- 
vitch's  short  stories,  one  of  his  village  characters  de- 
scribes how  "Petar"  a  young  fellow  of  the  village,  is 
a  vetrenyatch,   and  how,   when  he    sees   the   dark 


MORAL    CHARACTERISTICS  29 

clouds  flying  overhead,  he  drops  his  work,  runs 
wildly  hither  and  yon,  gets  in  the  course  of  the  driv- 
ing storm,  and  battles  with  "Halla"  to  turn  the  sleet 
away  from  the  village  crops;  how  he  runs  fiercely, 
beating  against  the  wicked  one,  and  is  himself  buf- 
feted and  beaten  in  return;  how  he  still  runs  madly 
struggling  with  the  evil  force,  until  finally  the  storm 
turns  off  the  track  and  leaves  the  village  unharmed; 
but  "Petar,"  who  has  fought  with  the  spirits  of  evil, 
"is  deadly  white  and  has  great  hollows  as  blue  as 
indigo  in  his  neck  and  cheeks  and  eye-sockets,  and 
is  as  one  dead  for  a  while."  1 

According  to  popular  poetic  conception  and  ex- 
pression, the  most  living  as  well  as  the  most  good 
and  lovable  of  the  ambient  spirits  is  the  Vila,  who 
still  exists  as  a  legendary  symbol — the  Vila  of  the 
streams,  the  Vila  of  the  mountain  and  the  Vila  of  the 
clouds.  They  are  maidens  of  eternal  beauty  and 
youth;  they  are  robed  in  garments  of  light,  pure 
white;  they  love  song  and  dance;  so  wondrous  fair 
are  they  that  mortals  may  not  behold  them  and  again 
bear  to  look  upon  the  common  world.  The  women 
in  their  tales  of  the  Vila  recount  how  that  sometimes, 
if  a  child  is  left  alone  in  a  garden  or  a  field  at  mid- 
day, when  the  sun  strikes  down  in  white  heat,  a  Vila 
will  carry  him  away  to  her  glorious  home  in  the  hills. 

•"Petar"  evidently  possesses  in  his  own  person  the  power  of  those 
Christians  in  a  Western  American  town  who  believed  that  by  their  united 
intense  prayer  in  the  instant  of  peril  they  had  held  off  the  cyclone  from 
destroying  their  newly-built  church;  and  those  Italians  in  a  small  chapel 
at  the  foot  of  Mount  Vesuvius  who,  by  their  strenuous  petitions,  stemmed 
the  thick  current  of  lava  as  it  rolled  down  toward  them,  and  who  show  the 
tourist  to-day  the  stiffened  mass  turned  abruptly  aside  from  its  natural 
course,  in  evidence  of  the  worth  of  their  supplications. 


30  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

There  she  will  bathe  him  and  dress  him  and  comb 
his  hair  and  lull  him  to  sleep ;  she  feeds  him  with  nec- 
tar and  kisses  him  and  plays  with  him  among  her 
own  magic  woods  and  flowery  meadows.  The  child 
is  entranced  and  "fairyfied"  when  his  mother  finds 
him  again  in  the  garden  and  holds  out  her  arms  to 
him;  he  is  afraid  of  her;  she  looks  ugly,  because  he 
thinks  always  of  the  Vila ;  she  would  take  him  in  her 
arms  but  he  struggles  to  be  free  and  gazes  at  her 
with  strange  eyes;  she  offers  him  cakes  and  sugar 
plums,  but  he  cannot  eat  them ;  when  she  kisses  him 
he  cries,  and  he  never  ceases  crying  and  pining  for  the 
Vila  until  finally  he  wastes  away  and  dies. 

Many  are  the  tales  of  the  Vilas.  In  their  true  char- 
acter they  love  human  beings  and  are  their  guardi- 
ans and  good  angels;  they  are  the  protectors  of  and 
take  an  interest  in  the  communities  where  they  live; 
they  are  patriotic  and  lovers  of  the  nation ;  they  love 
all  heroes  and  brave  men,  protect  them  in  battle,  heal 
their  wounds,  and  direct  them  on  a  fortunate  way, 
as  Pallas  Athene  was  wont  to  appear  at  the  side  of 
the  hero  in  the  heat  of  battle,  to  strengthen  him 
should  the  day  seem  to  be  turning  against  him.  Often 
in  the  national  ballads  the  hero  has  his  Vila,  who  is 
called  his  "Sister";  she  has  chosen  him  as  brother. 

The  great  Vilas  take  an  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the 
country.  Such  are  the  Vila  of  the  Avala  Mount,  in 
Servia;  the  Vila  of  Mount  Lovtchen,  in  Montenegro; 
the  Vila  of  Mount  Vitosh,  in  Bulgaria,  etc.;  each 
country,  each  district,  has  its  own  Vila. 

The  Vila  really  is  the  symbol  for  the  Ideal  of 
Beauty,  of  Goodness,  of  Heroism,  the  poetic  image  of 


LANGUAGE  31 

feminine  greatness.  Yet  with  all  her  grand  qualities 
the  Vila  is  not  without  some  taint  of  the  feminine 
genius  she  typifies.  She  is  jealous,  sometimes  envious, 
and  has  been  known  to  dislike  to  hear  singing  more 
beautiful  than  her  own,  punishes  those  who  chance 
to  disturb  her  joyous  dancing  in  round  by  moonlight, 
borrows  away  a  lovely  child  from  its  mother,  some- 
times winning  its  heart  to  herself.  Still,  she  finally  re- 
lents and  returns  the  child  to  its  sorrowing  mother, 
and  if  she  sends  an  arrow  to  shoot  at  some  hero  who 
has  offended  her,  she  hastens  to  heal  the  wound  with 
herbs,  and  endows  one  whom  she  has  punished  more 
richly  than  he  was  before,  with  gifts  of  glory  or  beauty. 
Corresponding  to  this  feminine  ideal  is  the  mascu- 
line ideal  symbolised  in  the  "Zmay,"  or  dragon.  This 
dragon  is  not  the  noisome  and  deadly  monster  as 
slain  by  St.  George,  but  the  strongest  and  boldest, 
the  most  handsome  young  hero  of  the  world,  who, 
under  the  guise  of  a  fiery  great  dragon,  has  power  to 
accomplish  any  undertaking  or  mount  to  the  highest 
heaven.  A  rain  of  "falling  stars"  is  spoken  of  as 
"the  fire  showered  from  his  wings"  as  he  flies 
through  space.  In  Servian  the  epithet  of  "Zmay"  is 
a  word  used  only  to  denote  the  bravest  of  the  brave. 

3.    LANGUAGE 

The  language,  like  the  race  of  the  Serbs,  has  its 
roots  in  far  antiquity. 

The  later  Serb  inflow  into  the  lands  of  its  present 
and  prehistoric  occupation  brought  a  Slavonic  dia- 
lect which  doubtless  became  one  with  the  indigenous 


32 


THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 


Slavonic  speech  of  those  regions  and  which  would 
appear  to  have  borne  more  direct  impress  of  Zend 
Sanskrit  influence  or  derivation. 


SERB 

SANSKRIT 

ZEND 

ENGLISH 

1 

jedan 

eka 

aeva 

one 

2 

dva 

dwi  (dvau) 

dva 

two 

3 

tri 

tri 

thri 

three 

4 

chetiry 

chatur 
(chatwara) 

chathwar 
(chathru) 

four 

5 

pet 

panchan 
(pancha) 

panchan 

five 

6 

shest 

shash  (shat) 

csvas  (kshwas) 

six 

7 

sedam 

saptan 

haptan 

seven 

8 

osam 

ashtan 

astan 

eight 

9 

devet 

navan 

navan 

nine 

10 

deset 

dasan 

dasan 

ten 

11 

jedanaest 

ekedasa 

aevandasan 

eleven 

20 

dvadeset 

dvinsati 

dvisaiti 

twenty 

100 

sto 

satam 

satem 

hundred 

1000 

hiliada 
tisiutcha 

sahasra 

hazaura 

thousand 

SERVIAN 

SANSKRIT 

ENGLISH 

put 

pathy,  patha 

way 

vuk 

vuka 

wolf 

svetlo 

sveta 

light 

voda 

uda 

water 

ogni  (ogen) 

agni 

fire 

Verbs 

yesam 

asmi 

I  am 

yesi 

asi 

thou  art 

yest 

asti 

he  is 

yesmo 

smas 

we  are 

yesti 

stha 

youi 

are 

jsou 

sauti 

they 

are 

GA/tnOA/3% 


co  en, 


LANGUAGE  33 

Professor  Yagitch,  the  famous  Slavist,  shows  in  his 
"History  of  the  South  Slavonic  Languages"  (Archives 
for  Slavonic  Philology,  1895),  that  from  west  to  east 
among  the  southern  slaves  the  language  of  the  dif- 
ferent groups  from  Slovene,  Croat,  Serb,  Macedo- 
Slovene,  and  Bulgarian,  form  a  continuous  chain  of 
dialects  or  slight  variations  of  one  and  the  same  lan- 
guage. The  difference  really  consists  in  nothing  more 
than  accent  and  pronunciation  and  length  of  certain 
vowels,  like  the  substitution  of  "i"  and  "ye"  for  "e," 
and  the  shifting  of  the  accent  in  a  word  of  more  than 
one  syllable  from  one  syllable  to  the  other. 

These  different  dialects  are: 

1.  The  Karantanian  group,  spoken  in  the  districts 
comprising  the  towns  of  Laibach  (Ljublanye), 
Terst  (Triest),  Goritza  (Gortz),  Villach,  Marburg, 
Cilli,  Rudolfswert,  Adelsberg.  This  dialect  developed 
in  a  literary  language  the  Slovene. 

2.  Croat  group:  Zagrab  (Agram)  Cakavac,  Varaz- 
din  Sissak,  Rjeka  (Fiume)  Novi,  Pola,  Pisino,  Lissa, 
Spalato  (Spleti),  Brazza  (Bratch). 

3.  Servian  group:  Serayevo,  Cetinye,  Dubrovnik 
(Ragusa)  Mostar,  Banyaluka,  Otocatz,  Belovar, 
Pozega,  Osyek,  Novisad,  Nagy  Kikinda,  Versec,  Bel- 
grad,  Aleksinac,Vranya,  Skoplye,  Novipazar,  Pristina, 
Prisren,  Dibra,  Tetovo,  Gusinye.  The  Croat  group 
(2.)  joined  this  group,  which  developed  a  literary 
language,  the  Servian,  so  that  these  two  last  groups, 
the  Croat  and  the  Servian,  have  one  common  written 
language,  the  Servian,  and  form  one  literary  unity. 

4.  Shopo-Macedonian  or  Macedo-Slovene :  com- 
prising Sofia,  Vidin,  Vratcha,  Velbuzd   (Kostendil) 


34  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

Bitolya,  Ohrida,  Kostur,  Salonika,  Doiran,  Shtip, 
Dzuma.  This  dialect  has  not  a  literary  language; 
their  epic  poesy  and  other  popular  songs  are  the  Ser- 
vian heroic  epics  and  national  song  or  subjects,  as 
Nemanyas,  Kossovo,  Lazaritza,  Marco-Kralyevitch 
cyclus,  etc. 

5.  Bulgarian:  Trnovo,  Plevna,  Rushtchuk,  Silis- 
tria,  Varna,  Plovdiv,  Drama,  Xanthi,  Dedeagatch, 
Adrianople,  Constantinople  having  no  national  poetic 
traditions  or  epics,  developed  a  literary  language  on 
the  basis  of  the  Danube-Bulgarian  dialect. 

Each  of  these  groups  had  in  mediaeval  times  its 
state  formation;  there  was,  first,  a  Karantania; 
second,  a  Croatia;  third,  a  Serbia;  fourth,  a  Shopo- 
Macedonian  empire  under  Samuel,  afterward  the 
state  of  Vidin;  and,  fifth,  a  Bulgaria. 

These  various  state  formations  did  not  arise  from 
or  were  not  the  result  of  separatist  tendencies,  but 
have  to  be  taken  as  representing  spontaneous  efforts 
in  different  localities  toward  uniting  the  whole  mass 
of  kindred  groups  of  Slavs  into  one  united  whole. 
The  Serb  group  alone  was  able  to  unite  the  southern 
Slavs  into  a  great  state,  which  endured  with  some 
fluctuation  of  border  during  several  hundred  years. 
The  Bulgarian  banner  did  not  represent  this  desire 
for  self-union  and  self-government  of  a  homogeneous 
Slav  race,  but  was  a  temporary  extension  of  border 
by  an  Ouralo-Finnish  invasion  into  the  territories 
occupied  by  present  Bulgaria,  which  had  been  super- 
posed on  a  native  Slav  population  whose  language 
and  customs  it  came  later  to  adopt. 

It  may  be  interesting  here  to  remark  that  the  Ian- 


LANGUAGE  35 

guage  of  the  northern  Slavs  forms  also  a  more  or  less 
similar  chain  of  dialects  of  the  same  language  that  is 
the  ancient  Slavonic  mother  tongue. 

From  west  to  east  we  have  the  Tcheque  and 
Slovac ;  the  Polish ;  Lusatians  in  Prussia  and  Saxony, 
who  call  themselves  "Srbi  or  Srbs";  the  Baltic  Slavs, 
(who  disappeared,  having  been  transformed  into  the 
Brandenburgians,  Prussians,  Pommeranians,  and 
Mecklenburgs) ;  the  Malo  (little)  Russians,  the  Belo 
(white)  Russians,  and  the  Velko  (great)  Russians. 

The  language  of  the  "Little  Russians"  is  most  like 
that  spoken  by  the  Serbs.  A  curious  point  of  ethnog- 
raphy in  this  connection  is  that  the  earliest  Servian 
state  formations  centred  in  the  regions  called  to-day 
Xovi-Bozar,  and  the  south-western  parts  of  modern 
Servia,  which  was  called  "Rashka,"  and  its  people 
(the  Serbs  of  that  time)  "Rascians,"  the  name  by 
which  the  Magyars  still  designate  the  Servians. 

All  of  these  groups,  both  north  and  south,  are 
slightly  varying  forms  of  the  same  language,  spoken 
altogether  by  one  hundred  and  fifty  million  people  in 
Europe,  of  whom  about  fifty  million  are  non-Rus- 
sians inhabiting  non-Russian  lands. 

The  Servian  language,  as  fixed  in  its  grammatical 
forms  and  brought  to  more  simple  exactitude  of  pho- 
netic writing  and  pronunciation  by  Vouk  Stephano- 
vich  Karadjich  in  the  early  nineteenth  century, 
who  used  for  that  purpose  the  dialect  spoken  in 
south-west  Serbia  and  in  Herzegovina  as  being  the 
purest  and  richest  Serb  form  of  speech,  is  used  by  the 
Croatians  and  Servians,  with  this  difference,  that  the 
Croatians,  who  are  the  Roman  Catholic  Serbs,  use  in 


CyrlUlo 
Modern 
Servian 

Modern 
Croat 

Old  Cyrillic 

as  used  today 

in  i  Irthodol 

Cburc-h 

Numeral 

Value  of 

OldC.i ■ 

IgolltM 

■ 

Btitnu  Oatholu 

with  l'ait^nlovcn 

Numeral 
Value  of 
EHagollta 

Engll.su 
Sou nda 

A  a 

A  a 

n 

1 

+ 

1 

ah 

B  6 

Bb 

B 



li! 

2 

like 
b  in  best 

H    1! 

V  v 

E 

2 

V 

3 

like 
V  in  \cst 

r  r 

Gg 

r 

3 

% 

4 

like 

g   in  •rel 

£« 

D  d 

A 

4 

<Q, 

5 

like 
(i  in  day 

K  o 

K  o 

(• 

5 

3 

6 

like 
a  in  ate 

1)K 

Z  z 

?K 

— 

^ 

7 

like 

j  orZh 

S 

(5 

^> 

8 

dz 

33 

Z  z 

3 

7 

o» 

9 

Z 

I 

10 

ST 

10 

t  like 
1    in  it 

11 11 

I  i 

H 

8 

M 

20 

like 

SB  In  sweet 

Jj 

Jj 

— 

AX 

30 

like 

ye 

Kk 

K  k 

H 

20 

> 

40 

k 

a  .i 

L  1 

A 

30 

& 

50 

1 

M  M 

M  m 

i\\ 

40 

W 

60 

m 

Hi 

N  n 

II 

50 

P 

70 

n 

Oo 

0  o 

0 

70 

9 

80 

0 

nn 

PP 

n 

80 

1° 

90 

P 

PP 

R  r 

p 

100 

b 

100 

r 

Oc 

S  s 

G 

200 

S 

200 

s 

Tt 

T  t 

T 

300 

DO 

300 

t 

yy 

U  u 

Ov 

400 

9£ 

400 

like 
00  i'i  loot 

$* 

F  f 

4> 

500 

°0° 

500 

f 

Xx 

H  h 

X 

600 

b 

600 

like 
ll  in  has 

GO 

800 

Q 

700 

oh 

36 


Cyrillic 
Modern 
Servian 

Modern 
Croat 

Old  Cyrillic 

as  used  today 

in  Orthodox 

Church 

i 

Numeral 

Value  of 

old  Cyrillic 

Old  Glagolitza 
as  used  U>day  in 
Roman  Catholic 

Churls 
witL  iWoaloven 
as  Sacred  Language 

Numeral 
Value  of 
Glagolitza 

English 
Sounds 

MJ 



Mr 

800 

sht 

IU 

C  c 

U 

900 

<v 

900 

like 
tS  in  lets 

^* 

C  c 

M 

90 

& 

1000 

like 
ch  in  chain 

III  m 

S  s 

Hi 

— 

Hi 

— 

like 
Sh  in  shall 

Ti 

— 

« 

— 

like 
U  in  but 

XI 

— 

°8T^ 

— 

>      like 
French  U 

TvH 

— 

°8S 

— 

in 

eu 

h 

— 

•8 

— 

like 
e  in  opens 

-B 

— 

A 

— 

J,al1  or 
yea 

K) 

— 

P 

— 

like 
U  in  mule 

Ifl 

— 

— 

— 

ya 

\e 

— 

— 

— 

like 

ee-a 

Aa 

900 

€ 

— 

like  in 

in  French 

fin 

7F> 

— 

B€ 

— 

like  on 

in  French 

bon 

IA 

— 

G€ 

— 

like  ien 

in  French 

lien 

ffi 

— 

£€ 

— 

like  ion 
in  French 
clarion 

0 

60 

— 

— 

ks] 

8  ft 

ijr 

700 

— 

— 

ps 

v    *-< 

e 

9 

■e- 

— 

V 

400 

& 

— 

) 

p  5 

B  o- 

Jb  Jb 

L'    I' 
Lj   lj 

— 

— 

— 

— 

like 

el-ye 

ft  H, 

N    n 

— 

— 

— 

— 

like 
en-ye 

H  h 

Co 

— 

— 

— 

— 

like 
dth  . 

TJ  t> 

D    Gj    gj 
dv  Dj   dj 

— 

— 

— 

— 

like 

Uv 

Dz    dz 

— 

— 

— 

like 
dzh 

37 

38  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

writing  the  Latin  characters,  while  the  Serbs,  like  all 
other  orthodox  Slavs,  use  the  Cyrillic  alphabet. 

What  Karadjich  had  done  in  modernising  the 
Cyrillic  alphabet  for  the  Serb,  employing  the  pho- 
netic principle,  Louis  Gai  did  in  1831  for  the  Croat 
tongue,  using  the  Tcheck-Latin  alphabet  with  an 
etymological  basis. 

The  Serbo-Croat  tongue,  except  for  this  difference 
of  alphabet,  is  one  and  the  same.  The  grammar  of 
Vouk  Karadjich,  printed  in  both  types  of  alphabet, 
is  used  for  the  teaching  to  strangers  of  the  Serbo- 
Croat  language. 

The  Cyrillic  is  based  on  a  Runic  script  common  in 
ancient  Slavonic  writing,  modifications  of  the  "Gla- 
golitz"  letters,  and  several  characters  adapted  from 
the  Greek  alphabet.  It  was  used  by  Cyril  and 
Methodus,  the  Slav  brothers  who  carried  Christian 
conversion  throughout  the  Slav  countries  of  the  Bal- 
kans in  the  ninth  century  and  made  a  translation  of 
the  Bible  into  that  tongue. 

The  Glagolitza  is  found  in  old  Roman  Catholic 
ritual  in  the  Paleo-Slovene  language — used  even  to 
day  in  Croatia — and  it  is  found  in  the  ancient  holy 
writing  in  Paleo-Slovene,  the  "sacred  language,"  of 
the  orthodox  Christian  Church  in  all  Slav  lands. 

In  the  Cyrillic  alphabet  each  letter  has  one  clear 
sound  which  does  not  change.  The  tones  are  uttered 
distinctly  and  melodiously,  and  while  harmonious 
there  are  certain  sounds  of  letters  as  of  words,  some 
sharp  and  harsh,  others  exceedingly  mellifluous, 
which  imitate  nature  or  evoke  an  image  or  emotion 
by  their  sound  alone. 


FAMILY  AND   SOCIAL  LIFE  39 

In  the  Servian  tongue  there  are  46.47  per  cent,  of 
consonances,  which  is  8.39  per  cent,  more  than  in 
German  and  3  per  cent,  more  than  has  the  French. 
The  Servian  tongue  has  no  article,  and  the  conjuga- 
tion and  declension  of  all  parts  of  speech  are  ex- 
pressed by  inflection  in  the  form  of  the  words.  The 
grammatical  forms  of  declension  and  conjugation 
resemble  more  those  of  the  classical  than  of  the 
modern  languages. 

This  tongue  lends  itself  marvellously  well,  both  as 
regards  quantity  and  interpretation,  to  translations 
from  the  Greek  and  Latin  classics.  It  is  well  suited  to 
scientific  exactitude  and  beauty  of  literary  expression. 

4.    FAMILY    LIFE — CLANS — COMMUNITIES 

ZADRUGAS,    ETC. 

The  basis  of  the  Slav  social  organisation  has  always 
been  the  family,  with  communistic  groupings.  These 
organisations,  however,  are  not  "patriarchal,"  which, 
in  the  proper  sense,  had  always  regard  to  shepherd 
peoples  and  cattle-raisers,  which  were  apt  to  be  roam- 
ing and  required  a  strong  central  authority. 

The  Serb  and  all  other  Slav  systems  differ  funda- 
mentally from  the  patriarchal,  and  were  not  evolved 
with  special  regard  to  roaming  or  nomadic  habits, 
but  grew  out  of  considerations  affecting  agriculture 
and  its  requirements.  The  basis  of  the  Serb  organ- 
isation is  the  family,  either  in  its  narrowest  sense  of 
blood-relationship,  in  communistic  organisation,  or 
other  individuals  grouped  together  for  common  work 
and  with  common  possessions.  These  forms  are 
called  "Zadruga"  (pronounced  "Zadrooga").     The 


40  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

word  is  derived  from  the  verb  "zadrugiti,"  to  be 
joined  together. 

Several  Zadrugas,  especially  if  they  are  kin-groups, 
form  the  "Rod,"  or  family,  in  the  larger  sense.  The 
agglomeration  of  such  Rods  through  many  genera- 
tions form  the  "Pleme,"  or  Clan.  "Vlastela"  is  the 
word  for  "  Nobility."  The  "  Plemitch  "  was  the  knight 
or  armed  man  of  the  Pleme.  To-day  "Plemitch"  is 
the  designation  for  the  lowest  grade  of  the  nobility, 
or  simple  gentleman.  These  distinctions  and  terms 
apply  especially  in  Serb  lands  under  Austrian  sway, 
where  the  ancient  order  still  remains. 

Procopius,  the  Byzantine  historian,  says,  "The 
Slavs  [referring  to  Serbs]  have  never  submitted  to  a 
one-man  rule  in  any  form  whatever,  and  from  what 
is  known  of  them  from  the  most  ancient  times  they 
have  always  been  under  rule  of  the  people  (BrjfxofcsaTia) . 
Every  public  act  was  decided  by  popular  assemblies." 

So,  in  the  Serb  family  organisations,  the  "Pater- 
familias" is  not  vested  with  unquestioned  authority 
over  the  members  of  his  family,  in  the  absolute  sense 
of  that  term  as  it  existed  in  Roman  law. 

The  Serb  youngster  from  his  chUdhood  up  is  a 
member  of  a  community,  and  receives  an  increasing 
sense  of  responsibility  growing  out  of  his  legal  situa- 
tion which  decrees  that  from  the  moment  of  his  birth 
he  enters  into  a  partnership  with  his  father  and  the 
other  members  of  the  community. 

The  customary  laws  as  obeyed  in  Servia  to-day 
exact  that  in  case  the  property  held  in  common  by  the 
family  comes  to  be  dissolved,  by  partition  or  other- 


FAMILY   AND    SOCIAL   LIFE  41 

wise,  each  member  of  that  family  (which  is  always  a 
community)  receives  an  equal  share  in  the  allot- 
ment, the  youngest  receiving  neither  less  nor  more 
than  the  oldest.  The  paternal  authority  in  the  fam- 
ily is,  therefore,  a  moral  and  administrative  authority. 
The  same  principle  works  throughout  all  the  more 
complicated  forms  of  Rod  and  Clan  (where  such 
forms  still  exist),  that  is,  that  the  nature  of  the  chief 
authority  or  head  is  one  of  obligation,  moral  and  ad- 
ministrative, and  has  no  sense  of  over-lordship,  in  the 
usual  acceptation  of  that  term,  and  includes  no  supe- 
rior possessory  rights.  The  Zadruga  in  all  its  various 
forms  and  developments  is  a  union  of  individuals, 
bound  together  by  blood-ties  or  not,  for  the  possession 
in  common  of  properties  to  be  worked  by  them  in 
common,  according  to  equitable  distribution  of  labour 
and  the  enjoyment  of  the  revenues  on  the  principle 
of  share  and  share  alike. 

Every  member  of  the  Zadruga  owes  to  the  commu- 
nity his  share  of  the  amount  of  effort  necessary  to  the 
working  and  welfare  of  the  land,  home  industries,  or 
other  properties  possessed  by  the  community  in  com- 
mon. Having  contributed  his  share  of  service  to  the 
common  requirement,  he  is  free  to  use  the  rest  of  his 
time  in  earning  money  apart  from  the  Zadruga. 
Those  private  earnings,  and  any  personal  gifts  which 
he  may  receive,  are  his  own  individual  property  to  be 
dealt  with  by  him  as  he  may  choose.  The  dowry  of 
his  wife  and  her  personal  property — unless  subject  to 
stipulation  otherwise,  extremely  rare — are  personal 
possessions  (called  "Bashtina"  in  the  Code,  Du- 
shan)  held  apart  from  the  community. 


42  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

Should  any  member  desire  to  separate  himself  from 
the  Zadruga,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  should  the  Za- 
druga find  it  desirable  to  rid  itself  of  a  hopelessly  un- 
ruly member,  that  member  receives  his  share  of  the 
common  property  and  is  excluded. 

There  are  three  forms  of  Zadruga:  "Inokosna," 
covering  no  further  than  the  second  generation;  the 
Zadruga  "of  Kith  and  Kin,"  including  several  gen- 
erations and  all  degrees  of  relationship;  and  the  Za- 
druga of  "Yedinatzi,"  that  is,  the  voluntary  group- 
ing together  for  purposes  of  common  interests  of 
individuals  between  whom  no  ties  of  relationship 
exist. 

The  Zadruga  in  its  most  usual  form  is  that  com- 
prising the  family  groups,  the  immediate  descendants 
of  the  first  and  sometimes  second  generation,  with  all 
those  brought  into  relationship  with  them  by  marriage. 

In  other  days  these  Zadrugas  numbered  as  many  as 
and  often  more  than  one  hundred  souls,  but  with 
modernising  tendencies  they  have  fewer  members, 
and  in  many  cases  limit  themselves  to  one  family  of 
sons  and  their  children,  and  the  unmarried  girls,  for 
the  bride  follows  her  husband  to  become  a  member 
of  his  Zadruga.  Further  than  that  the  formation 
breaks  into  smaller  groups  to  found  new  Zadrugas. 

The  Zadruga  begins  with  the  family  living  in  a 
house,  or  "  Koutcha,"  about  which  other  houses,  called 
"Vayats"  group  themselves  by  degrees  as  the  sons 
marry  and  themselves  found  families,  and  it  is  gov- 
erned by  a  "Stareshina"  (elder),  generally  the  oldest 
member  of  the  community,  who  is  recognised  to  be, 
by  character  and  experience,  the  most  capable  man 


FAMILY  AND   SOCIAL   LIFE  43 

for  that  position.  He  is  chosen  by  the  other  members, 
and  age  is  not  the  main  qualification  which  governs 
their  choice.  It  may  happen  that  a  younger  man, 
or  even  a  woman,  is  named  Stareshina  should  such 
a  one  be  considered  the  ablest  and  wisest  member 
of  the  Zadruga. 

The  Zadruga  is  one  person  in  its  civil  and  legal 
status,  and  the  Stareshina  represents  it  before  the  law. 
It  is  one  unit  or  "Glava"  (head).  Some  Turkish 
records  dating  from  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  showing  the  Serb  population  of  the  then 
Turkish  Pashalik  of  Belgrade,  made  it  out  that  there 
were  in  the  whole  Pashalik  only  about  2,000  inhabit- 
ants, which  in  reality  was  the  number  of  the  Glavas 
(Heads).  Each  Glava  or  Head  represented  a  Za- 
druga of  perhaps  100  or  more  members,  so  the  2,000 
Heads  were,  in  true  fact,  between  200,000  to  300,000 
individuals.  The  same  mistake  occurs  in  reading 
Byzantine  records  enumerating  Slavonic  populations. 

The  Stareshina  is  the  administrator  of  the  prop- 
erties owned  by  the  community,  decides  as  to  the 
expenditure  or  investment  of  its  income,  or,  rather,  he 
executes  the  desires,  in  these  regards,  of  the  members 
of  the  community  with  whom  he  has  to  consult  before 
coming  to  a  decision  touching  any  general  interest. 
It  is  a  part  of  his  duty  to  hold  evenly  balanced  the 
scales  of  justice  in  many  ways,  preventing  the  clash 
of  personalities  and  seeing  that  there  is  no  inequality 
of  treatment  and  that  each  member  has  the  same 
amount  spent  for  clothing  and  personal  require- 
ments. Although  the  Stareshina  is  invested  with 
almost  autocratic  power,  he  holds  tenure  by  will  of 


44  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

the  members  to  whom  he  is  responsible  for  good 
government  and  can  be  deposed. 

Should  he  from  age  or  any  other  infirmity  or  for 
any  other  reason  prove  unsatisfactory,  he  resigns 
and  is  superseded  by  another  person.  He  retires,  in 
that  case,  to  live  in  a  house  set  apart  for  him,  a  kind 
of  dower-house. 

The  wife  of  the  Stareshina  holds  among  the  femi- 
nine members  of  the  community,  and  as  regards  the 
women's  interests,  a  position  corresponding  in  author- 
ity to  that  of  her  husband.  She  is  called  the  "Do- 
matchina"  (home-keeper),  and  decides,  in  consulta- 
tion with  the  important  womenfolk,  what  the  next 
day's  work  is  to  be,  supervises  all  household  matters, 
the  catering  and  kitchen  as  well  as  questions  of  cloth- 
ing and  the  spinning  and  weaving  of  textures.  She  is 
the  supreme  authority  in  all  the  community  interests 
that  lie  in  the  feminine  province. 

The  other  women  take  it  turn  and  turn  about, 
week  at  a  time,  being  the  aid  or  assistant  to  the  Do- 
matchina,  each  also  helping  in  turn  in  the  preparation 
of  the  meals.  The  girls  are  entitled  to  a  marriage  out- 
fit and,  where  it  can  be  afforded,  to  a  dowry.  From 
the  time  when  they  are  able  to  handle  a  needle  deftly 
the  young  girls  begin  slowly  to  work  on  their  trous- 
seaus. The  Domatchina  gives  them  the  necessary 
materials.  They  spin  and  weave  textures  for  house- 
hold and  personal  linen,  which  are  often  ornamented 
with  exquisite  needle-work — rich  embroideries  of  gold 
on  white  linen  or  wool  textures  or  on  velvet,  and  car- 
pets, rugs,  and  hangings,  woven  like  the  Pirot  and 
other  Servian  carpets  in  a  manner  very  much  resem- 


FAMILY  AND   SOCIAL   LIFE  45 

bling  that  of  the  Persian  "  Khelims."  They  are  called 
also  "Tchilims."  This  custom  is  observed  by  all 
classes  of  society. 

The  Stareshina  and  his  wife  live  in  the  largest  house 
containing  the  great  fireplace.  The  fire  on  the  hearth 
of  the  home  is  sacred.  It  must  never  be  allowed  to 
die  out.  Its  extinction  would  be  regarded  with  super- 
stitious dread  of  impending  ill.  So  long  as  it  burns, 
healing  and  blessed  influences  are  ascribed  to  it. 

In  the  evening,  after  the  day's  work  is  over,  the 
members  of  the  family  assemble  around  this  great 
central  hearth  where  the  logs  flame  up,  the  men  to 
discuss  various  matters,  the  women  with  distaff  or 
sewing  in  hand.  They  tell  stories  and  laugh  and  sing 
songs,  and  sometimes  recite  ballads,  either  something 
newly  composed,  perhaps  some  saucy  doggerel  of 
satire  and  sharp  sally  "taking  off"  their  own  pecu- 
liarities or  politics,  or  some  tale,  it  may  be,  of  love  and 
war,  or  some  ballad  of  modern  or  ancient  heroism; 
and  they  never  meet  without  the  prayer  to  God  for 
blessing  and  honor  to  the  Holy  Trinity.  In  attempt- 
ing to  enter  into  the  spirit  of  these  Servian  reunions, 
considering  how  dreary,  often  sordid — not  to  say 
desolate — the  life  of  the  main  mass  of  people  who 
work  for  their  livelihood  is  apt  to  be  in  many  other 
lands,  how  care-burdened,  how  lacking  in  the  capac- 
ity to  be  gladsome,  it  may  be  worth  while  trying  to 
account  for  the  child-like  enjoyment  of  the  Servian 
country  people,  their  free-hearted  and  joyous  im- 
pulse in  giving  themselves  up  for  the  moment  to  dance 
and  song,  or  to  the  rather  stately  pleasure,  if  one  may 
call  it  so,  which  they  find  in  going  through  the  cere- 


46  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

monials  of  baptism,  betrothal,  marriage  festivities, 
various  occasions  of  social  gatherings,  and  to  the 
pleasure  which  accompanies  even  the  reunions  of  the 
"Moba,"  when  those  who  have  come  from  other  dis- 
tricts to  help  a  neighbouring  Zadruga  with  either 
planting  or  harvest,  have  closed  the  day's  work  and 
gather  around  the  evening  meal  to  enjoy  themselves, 
care-free,  and,  after  the  usual  prayer  and  tribute  to  the 
Holy  Trinity,  turn  the  occasion  into  a  time  of  harm- 
less jollity. 

The  institution  of  the  Zadruga,  sheltering  its  mem- 
bers and  exacting  from  them  equal  effort,  while  it 
has  not  lent  itself  to  any  great  increase  of  riches,  and 
indeed  has  been,  through  its  essential  spirit  of  free 
hospitality  and  guardianship  of  the  individual,  dia- 
metrically opposed  to  the  spirit  of  cold  exploitation 
and  gain  for  gain's  sake,  has  always  shielded  its  mem- 
bers from  any  possible  want.  The  mother  has  never 
had  to  see  her  little  one  go  without  food  and  clothing, 
has  never  had  to  strain  her  heart  over  the  thought  of 
its  having  to  struggle  in  after  years  for  bare  existence; 
she  could  always  rest  secure  in  the  knowledge  that 
unless  some  burning  spirit  of  adventure,  some  extraor- 
dinary ambition,  led  him  to  desire  to  go  out  into  the 
great  world  to  try  his  fortunes,  he  would  in  the  natural 
course  of  things  find  daily  work  with  safe  shelter, 
good  food,  and  warm  clothing  all  his  life.  She  knew, 
too,  that  if  he  grew  up  with  unusual  capacities  he 
could  earn  money  for  himself  and  have  all  such  pos- 
sessions in  his  own  individual  right,  and  that  if  he 
should  have  the  desire  for  higher  education  his  ex- 
penses would  be  paid  by  the  Zadruga  counting  out  to 


FAMILY   AND  SOCIAL  LIFE  47 

him  his  share,  and  later  he  would  probably  receive  a 
loan  from  the  Zadruga,  allowing  him  to  attend  higher 
institutions  of  learning  or  universities.  The  Servian 
mother  has  been  spared  the  microbe  of  anxiety  over 
the  necessities  of  existence,  and  the  Serb  has  not  had 
that  soul-destroying  factor  in  his  composition,  that 
heaviness  which  the  world  overlies  in  the  heart  of  the 
main  mass  of  mortals,  like  an  ever-present  unnamed 
care  preventing  or  dampening  the  free  and  joyous 
impulses  of  nature. 

The  Zadruga  has  brought  into  the  daily  practice  of 
life  many  Christian  precepts  and  embodied  many 
homely  graces  and  virtues:  honest  work  and  just 
remuneration,  consideration  for  the  rights  of  others, 
severe  moral  exaction  and  laws  of  purity,  and  the 
principle  of  mutual  help  and  "brotherhood,"  prac- 
tised in  many  institutions  from  the  Moba  to  simple 
hospitality.  In  its  central  fires  the  Zadruga  has  gener- 
ated life  forces  that  have  made  for  a  nation's  endur- 
ance and  power  to  hold  its  own  through  ages  of  con- 
stant attack.  If  this  institution  is  undermined  by  the 
spirit  of  greed  of  greater  gain,  or  any  other  movement 
for  superseding  the  old  and  proved  by  the  new  and 
problematic,  what  can  take  its  place  as  a  conserver  of 
national  forces  ?  The  Western  world  has  not  yet 
wrought  out  a  system  guaranteeing  anything  like  so 
great  a  measure  of  fundamental  rights  and  rewards  to 
the  individual,  with  security  against  improvidence, 
nor  so  rich  a  nursery  for  sterling  qualities  of  character 
both  in  man  and  woman. 

In  the  Servian  lands,  under  Austrian  sway,  the  au- 
thorities have  for  political  reasons  encouraged  and  fur- 


48  THE   SERVIAN    PEOPLE 

thered  all  elements  tending  toward  the  dissolution  and 
destruction  of  the  Zadruga  formations.  Many  Austro- 
German  and  Magyar  political  pamphleteers  have 
openly  denounced  the  Zadruga  system  as  a  hindrance 

to  the  development  of  agriculture,  progress  being  in- 
terpreted by  them  as  the  exploitation  on  a  large  scale 
of  vast  acreages  worked  in  the  purely  industrial  sense, 
having  no  regard  to  the  earth  as  a  foothold  for  homes 
and  a  nourisher  of  human  beings.  Theirs  is  the  argu- 
ment  of  dealing  with  the  soil  as  a  feeder  of  commerce, 
in  opposition  to  the  principle  of  considering  the  land 
as  furnishing  homes  and  livelihood  for  vast  numbers 
of  families.  Within  the  kingdom  itself  there  were, 
during  the  second  part  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
injected  into  Servian  public  ideas  foreign  theories 
which  attacked  the  Zadruga,  and  a  perceptible  move- 
ment began  toward  its  disintegration.  The  idea 
gained  ground  that  the  individual  and  single-handed 
tilling  of  the  soil  or  working  of  crafts  would  prove 
more  advantageous  and  confer  greater  independence 
upon  the  individual  than  was  the  case  under  the  Ser- 
vian co-operative  Zadruga  system.  The  dissolving 
of  some  of  the  Zadrugas  into  single  families  has  not 
had  the  expected  results  and  has  begun  to  create  in 
some  villages  a  "poverty-stricken"  class  which  was 
before  unknown  in  Serbia.  This  newly  created  class 
of  persons  is  only  prevented  from  falling  to  the  condi- 
tion of  "pauperism"  by  a  law  which  makes  inalien- 
able a  minimum  of  property,  five  acres  of  land,  a  pair 
of  oxen,  and  agricultural  tools.  Under  the  Zadruga 
system  a  number  of  such  small  holdings  worked  in 
common  would  have  formed  a  wTell-to-do  community. 


FAMILY  AND  SOCIAL  LIFE         49 

Certain  Servians  have  been  able  personally  to  ob- 
serve in  the  lands  of  their  origin  some  of  the  theories 
advocated  in  western  Europe  and  the  appalling  mis- 
eries which  those  theories  have  up  to  this  time  been 
unable  to  avert,  and  have  compared  them  with  the 
results  of  the  Zadruga  system,  proved  through  the  ages 
to  have  well  nourished  and  well  sheltered  the  Servian 
race.  Those  students  of  modern  institutions  would 
wi^h  to  find  some  means  of  bringing  this  old  Servian 
formation  into  line  with  impatient  and  more  ambitious 
modern  requirements  without  allowing  it  to  be  over- 
whelmed in  its  essential  principles  and  lost  to  the 
race. 

During  the  la>t  two  decades  there  has  appeared  in 
many  districts  in  Servia  a  modernised  Zadruga, 
evolved  from  a  movement  for  reformulation  based 
not  on  the  principle  <>f  family  relationship  but  on 
that  of  community  of  interests;  a  combination  of 
community  of  property  with  co-operation  and  equality 
of  labour  and  profit-sharing  minus  the  conditions  of 
living  in  community.  In  short,  this  form  is  a  com- 
promise between  the  ancient  Zadruga  and  the  co-op- 
erative society  sought  for  by  the  more  advanced  and 
practical  among  \\.>tern  social  reformers.  This  new 
evolution  of  the  Zadruga.  by  its  common-sense  organ- 
isation and  its  adaptability  to  conditions  of  labour  and 
the  modern  trend  of  life,  has  practically  attained  the 
solution  of  the  vexed  problems  aimed  at  in  the  "Vor- 
ruits"  and  other  experimental  social  colonies  in  many 
lands. 

There  are  among  the  Servian  people  a  number  of 
interesting  ancient  customs  bearing  on  the  social  and 


50  THE   SERVIAN    PEOPLE 

economical  life  of  the  population  which  will  be  treated 
in  a  later  chapter. 

These  and  similar  institutions  and  customs,  which 
have  existed  not  only  among  the  Servians  but  among 
all  Slav  peoples  from  times  of  remotest  antiquity, 
force  the  conclusion  that  they  have  been  a  race  of  cult- 
ure which  must  have  long  ago  passed  through  a  period 
of  social  and  economic  development,  imposing  in 
those  far-distant  ages  the  working  out  and  solution  of 
problems  similar  in  principle  to  those  which  confront 
Europe  and  America  to-day.1 

5.  RELATIONS  BETWEEN  MEN  AND  WOMEN — THE 
PLACE  OF  THE  WOMEN  IN  FAMILY  AND  NATIONAL 
LIFE 

The  relations  between  men  and  women  in  Servian 
lands  were  conditioned  by  life  in  the  Zadruga  and  by 
the  peculiar  situation  through  the  ages  of  the  Serb 
peoples  which  obliged  them  to  continual  vigilance 
and  the  battle  of  self-defence  against  a  foreign  foe 
who  might  attack  or  raid  at  any  moment.  Thus  a 
well-organised  rule  of  life  within  the  Zadruga,  and  the 
attitude  of  the  man  as  militant  protector  of  home  and 
family. 

By  an  unwritten  law  and  national  usage  a  boy,  from 
the  moment  he  is  old  enough  to  carry  arms,  becomes 
the   natural    defender   of   every    woman    and    child 

1  In  some  parts  of  Europe,  especially  in  Germany  among  the  nobility 
and  higher  bourgeoisie  "possessing  classes,"  a  movement  is  in  course  of 
development  which  binds  families  and  their  relations  by  blood  and  name 
in  a  strong  intimate  alliance,  or  "family  community,"  on  the  principle 
of  conservation  of  forces.  The  fortune  is  held  in  common  and  all  interests 
submitted  to  a  permanent  "family  council"  and  a  yearly  "family  assem- 
bly" or  ''gathering  of  the  clan." 


MEN   AND   WOMEN  51 

whether  related  to  him  by  kinship  or  not.  He  is 
sternly  taught  that  it  is  his  first  duty  to  protect  the 
woman,  that  his  own  honour  is  at  stake  with  hers. 
"Mother"  is  a  word  of  sacred  significance,  and  "sis- 
ter" is  the  term  by  which  the  Servian  man  addresses 
a  woman  who  is  a  stranger.  "Little  sister,"  expres- 
sive of  both  reaped  and  affection,  is  used  to  a  friend 
as  well  as  to  a  real  sister. 

Seyo  moya,  itnash  koga  svoga? 
Imam  brata  imam  i  dragoga, 
Seyo  moya  pravo  da  mi  kashesh, 
Hi  volish  brata  il'drago§ 
Za  brata  byh  oba  oka  dala, 
A  za  dragog  tri  niza  dukata, 
I  to  vi-lini  in-  snam  1  * i J i  h  dala: 

i  prodjoh  ya  dragoga  nadjoh, 
g     et  prodjoh,  ya  brata  ne  nadjoh: 
Nema  I. rata,  dok  ne  rodi  mayka. 

(Literal  translation) 

Sister  mine,  bast  t!n»u  any  dear  ones? 

A  brother  have  I.  and.  loo,  my  betrothed. 

Sister  mine,  prithee  tell  me  truly, 

Which  lovM  th.»u  best,  brother  or  thy  betrothed? 

For  brother's  sake,  my  two  eyes  would  I  give, 

For  sake  of  my  betrothed,— three  rows  of  ducats— 

And  I  protest,  I  know  not  if  I'd  give  so  much. 

Passing  through  the  village,  I  a  lover  found, 

But  passing  through  the  world  no  brother  could  I  tind. 

Never  brother  but  he's  born  of  one's  own  Mother! 

There  exists  in  the  Servian  language  no  expression 
for  cousin  in  the  first  and  second  degrees.  Cousins  are 
called  "brother"  and  "sister,"  and  the  kinship  which 
partakes  of  the  same  nature  is  sacred  and  precludes 


52  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

marriage.  Boys  and  girls,  women  and  men.  within 
the  old-fashioned  Zadruga  arc  kepi  some^  hat  separate 
from  each  other  and  arc  subject  t<>  certain  strict  usages 
of  decorum  which  impose  the  greatest  reserve  in  regard 
to  all  passional  tendencies.  At  work  and  at  reunions, 
except  in  the  dance,  the  1>oys  and  girls  are  kept  to  a 
great  degree  in  separate  groups.  There  are  alw 
older  married  women  present  "to  keep  order."  The 
young  people  do  not  have  any  very  great  opportunity 
of  becoming  intimately  acquainted  before  marriage. 
Among  the  old-fashioned  the  idea  still  obtains  that 
persons  whose  relationship  could  no  longer  be  traced 
by  actual  degree,  but  whose  "family  saint"  is  the 
same,  are  considered  as  too  nearly  akin  to  many. 

From    ancient    times    the    strictesl    laws    of    purity 

have  been  observed  with  rigour.     Some  of  the  regu- 

lations  of  this  moral  code  would  seem  fierce  and  even 

terrifying  to  more  Western  ideas.     Marriage  is  a  di- 

vine  sacrament  and  is  looked  upon  as  the  Only  possi- 
ble  condition  permittmg  the  intimate  intercourse  of 
the  sexes;  illegitimacy  of  children  is  practically  un- 
known in  Servian  lands.  The  exhibition  of  love  or 
conjugal  affection  in  the  presence  of  others  is  consid- 
ered unsacred  or  indelicate,  and  the  mutual  de- 
meanour of  husband  and  wife  appears  to  strangers 
ceremonious  if  not  cold.  The  contrary  is  the  case 
with  the  expression  of  parental,  filial,  or  friendly 
affection,  which  is  spontaneous  and  warm. 

No  marriages  are  ever  made  in  the  same  Zadruga; 
they  are  even  rare  among  residents  of  the  same  village. 
The  bride  is  generally  sought  at  the  greatest  distance 
possible  from  the  home,  a  distance  often  of  two  or 


MEN    AND    WOMEN  53 

three  days'  journey  on  horse  or  foot.  The  steps  tow- 
ard bringing  about  a  marriage  are  generally  under- 
taken by  a  third  person;  some  relative  or  friend  of 
cither  family,  through  whom  the  father  seeks  the 
bride  for  his  son,  begins  the  negotiations  between  the 
parents  which,  if  satisfactory,  lead  to  the  meeting  of 
the  young  folk. 

A  Servian  woman  has  special  pride  in  three  things: 
First,  her  household  linen,  woven  and  ornamented  by 
herself,  with  its  rich  and  beautiful  needle-work,  often 
recalling  in  pattern  the  Venetian  point.  Her  second 
pleasure  i>  in  the  quality  of  her  home-made  preserved 
fruits,  jams,  jellies,  and  other  sweetmeats,  some  of 
these  dainties,  with  a  cup  of  coffee  and  a  glass  of 
spring  water,  being  offered  to  the  visitor.  Besides  the 
cleanliness  and  order  <>f  the  house,  she  prides  herself 
much  on  her  good  cooking,  and  has  many  ways  of  pre- 
paring chicken  and  suckling  pig,  receipts  for  the  prep- 
aration of  soups  and  vegetables  and  a  great  variety  of 
cakes. 

Where  more  primitive  conditions  prevail  in  the 
Zadruga  groups,  and  where  the  general  duties  had 
ird  almost  whollvto  tilling  the  soil,  women  did 
certain  kimN  of  field  work,  and  their  home  duties, 
purely  of  a  household  nature  made  of  the  woman 
merely  the  good  housekeeper  whose  burdens  in  a 
maternal  veil-.-  were  many. 

It  has  been  found,  however,  in  those  classes  and 
circumstances  where  a  cultural  expansion  was  pos- 
sible through,  f<»r  instance,  improved  educational 
mean>,  that  the  man  has  in  no  sense  held  the  woman 
down  to  household  drudgery  as  her  natural  limita- 


54  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

tion;  on  the  contrary,  she  has,  on  a  line  with  the  man, 
shared  in  the  benefits  of  improved  conditions  and  the 
man  has  opened  up  to  her  educational  and  other  advan- 
tages in  pace  with  the  development  of  opportunities. 

The  Servian  is  proud  of  any  special  attainment  by 
his  women-folk,  and  there  are  many  instances  to-day 
of  young  men  who  are  making  their  way  in  life  in  one 
calling  or  another,  who  devote  some  part  of  a  limited 
earning  or  salary  to  paying  for  the  education  in  some 
European  school  of  a  sister  or  cousin  who  is  studying 
to  qualify  in  some  technical  work  or  with  the  idea  of 
becoming  a  teacher.  Instances  of  that  nature  are 
personally  known  to  the  writer. 

In  war  times  women  cared  for  the  wounded  and 
attended  to  an  important  extent  in  the  provisioning  of 
the  armies  with  food  and  clothing.  These  they  car- 
ried to  the  troops  across  the  hills  or  down  the  valleys, 
as  the  case  might  require.  It  has  often  happened 
when  every  man,  young  or  old,  able  to  hold  a  gun  was 
fighting,  that  the  women,  too,  shouldered  their  rifles 
and  fought  side  by  side  with  fathers  and  husbands, 
brothers  and  sons.  As  various  photographs  pub- 
lished in  newspapers  throughout  the  wrorld  have 
shown,  the  Servian  women  did  not  hesitate  during 
the  recent  crisis  to  form  themselves  into  bands  for 
military  drill  and  to  organise  their  resources  as  fight- 
ing auxiliaries.  The  men  said  nothing  to  these  prep- 
arations, knowing  that  it  must  be  so,  and  that  the 
Servian  women  were  only  doing  what  the  women  of 
their  race  had  been  often  forced  to  do  in  times  gone 
by.  Especially  is  this  true  in  Montenegro,  where  the 
entire  provisioning  of  the  armies  and  hospital  work 


CUSTOMS  AND   TRADITIONS  55 

were  always  in  the  hands  of  the  women.  When  Prince 
Nicola  desired  to  form  a  men's  department  for  those 
services,  the  Montenegrin  women  opposed  the  meas- 
ure and  considered  themselves  wronged  in  a  special 
prerogative! 

Although  the  Servian  woman  has  not  shown  her- 
self  ambitious  to  take  the  lead  in  public  or  political 
affairs,  she  has  always  been  the  great  conservative 
force  in  the  nation,  and  defended  all  national  inter- 
esta  as  if  they  were  matters  of  the  fireside.  Like  her 
symbol  the  Vila,  she  is  the  font  of  pure  patriotism. 
In  her  heart  tin-  fires  of  devotion  never  die,  she  cher- 
ishes the  old  traditions  and  customs  and  religious 
faith,  teaches  her  babe  the  old  histories  and  tales  of 
past  achievements,  and  inspires  him  or  her  with  a 
determined  belief  in  Servian  destiny. 

The  Seil)  woman  will  not  take  service  in  a  strange 
home,  though  she  will  perform  household  drudgery 
for  her  own  family.  Neither  is  she  found  as  shop 
assistant  or  in  commercial  positions.  She  will  go  as 
teacher,  doctor,  or  in  some  department  of  state  ser- 
vice, but  will  not  become  a  domestic  servant. 

6.    CUSTOMS — FAMILY    FESTIVALS CHRISTMAS 

EASTER   TRADITIONS — CEREMONIES,   ETC. 

One  of  the  most  important  days  of  the  year,  and 
the  most  distinctive  family  celebration  of  the  Serb 
race,  is  the  "Slava,"  or  celebration  of  the  family  saint. 
This  custom  is  purely  Servian,  not  found  in  the  tra- 
dition of  any  other  nation,  and  is  so  deeply  identified 
with  the  Serb  race  that  it  is  said,  "  Where  the  Slava  is, 
there  is  the  Serb."    This  custom  has  been  taken  by 


56  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

certain  writers  and  ethnologists  as  means  of  deter- 
mining the  nationality  in  some  more  or  less  mixed 
districts  of  the  Balkan  peninsula  as  in  some  parts  of 
Macedonia  and  western  Bulgaria. 

The  Slava,  it  is  thought,  has  descended  or  evolved 
from  ancestor- worship,  and  in  pre-Christian  times 
came  to  refer  to  a  divinity  who  was  the  especial  pro- 
tector of  each  family  or  clan. 

The  rite  of  honouring  those  who  have  gone  before, 
and  especially  in  regard  to  ancestor-heroes,  is  char- 
acteristic of  Serb  customs  and  ballads. 

In  pagan  times  each  family  and  family  group  had 
its  own  family  god  (similar  to  the  Roman  custom). 
When  the  Serb  families  became  Christians  they  bap- 
tised their  ancient  family  god  along  with  themselves 
into  the  Christian  faith  and  gave  him  a  name  of  a 
saint,  generally  that  marking  the  day  of  their  own 
baptism,  and  so  he  became  the  patron  saint  of  the 
family.  His  picture,  painted  or  enamelled  generally 
on  a  golden  background  in  Byzantine  style  or  flatly 
traced  in  wood,  or  even  a  lithograph,  hangs  on  the 
wall  of  every  Servian  house.  Before  it  a  small  oil  lamp 
is  suspended  which  is  lighted  on  festival  occasions. 

The  word  "Slava"  in  all  Slavonic  tongues  means 
glory.  It  is  used  by  some  of  them,  by  the  Tcheques 
for  instance,  as  a  word  of  hailing,  like  "Hurrah"  in 
English.  The  word  "Hosanna"  in  the  Bible  is 
translated  "Slava."  It  is  used  in  the  verb  form  "sla- 
viti"  to  honor  a  patron  saint,  or  in  a  general  sense 
"to  glorify." 

On  the  day  of  the  Slava  the  Serb  house  is  open  to 
all;    a  stranger  may  enter  and  receive  the  same  wel- 


CUSTOMS  AND   TRADITIONS  57 

come  and    hospitality   as   that   given    to   family  or 
friend. 

The  celebration  in  the  more  remote  country  dis- 
tricts lasts  for  several  days,  part  of  which  are  given 
to  preparation  for  the  day  itself.  In  the  towns  one 
day  only  is  now  kept,  while  in  Belgrade,  where  great 
attempts  have  been  made  to  introduce  a  "fashion- 
ableness"  from  other  countries,  the  Slava  has  been 
reduced  to  a  reception-day  where  some  of  the  ancient 
ceremonial  is  still  observed,  such  as  the  offering  of 
the  "Kolvivo,"  etc. 

Throughout  the  country,  however,  the  old  tradi- 
tionary  festival  is  still  a  living  force  both  in  its  mys- 
tic and  social  meaning.  The  whole  ceremonial,  with 
its  formula  of  greetings  and  invocations,  has  been  hal- 
lowed by  hoary  custom  into  almost  ritualistic  form. 

The  first  act  of  preparation  Is  a  thorough  house- 
cleaning.  There  must  be  no  speck  of  dust  or  impu- 
rity anywhere;  all  must  be  polished  and  burnished  to 
its  brightest,  and  for  every  member  of  the  family 
there  must  be  fresh,  pure  clothing,  either  new  or  the 
old  put  in  best  order.  Every  one  makes  ready  his  or 
her  richest  and  finest  apparel. 

A  feast  is  prepared  the  important  and  obligatory 
items  of  which  are  the  "Kolatch"  (cake)  and  the 
Kolvivo.  The  Kolvivo  evidently  refers  to  an  an- 
cient rite  of  sacrifice,  and  is  a  plate  of  boiled  white 
wheat,  kneaded  with  nuts  and  honey  or  sugar,  and 
iced  or  decorated  in  some  way  with  melted  or  coloured 
sugars.  It  is  really  an  offering  for  the  souls  of  the 
dead;  it  is  not  present  at  the  Slavas  of  St.  Michael 
and  St.  Elias. 


58  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

The  other  consecrated  dish,  the  Kolatch,  is  a 
large  and  flat  cake  of  wheat  flour,  the  top  marked 
with  a  cross  dividing  it  into  four  quarters,  the  spaces 
containing  letters  indicating  the  device  "Jesus  Christ 
the  Victor." 

On  the  eve  of  the  Slava  a  priest  comes  to  the  house, 
blesses  the  water,  reads  prayers  tor  the  dead,  and 
asperges  the  house  and  its  occupants  with  a  myrtle 
branch  dipped  in  the  consecrated  water.  Messen- 
gers are  sent  through  the  village  to  give  general  invi- 
tation to  the  Slava  or  to  the  ceremonial  of  Slava 
eve.  In  towns  this  announcement  is  often  given  by 
a  notice  in  the  newspapers.  The  time-honoured  for- 
mulae for  invitation  to  the  beginning  of  the  festival  on 
Slava  eve  are:  "We  are  sent  to  bring  you  greeting 
and  to  ask  you  to  come  this  evening  to  our  house; 
what  God  and  our  Saint  have  given  we  will  not  hide 
from  you."  Or  the  words:  "We  worship  God  and 
celebrate  the  glory  of  our  saint  Amos  [saint  so  and  so]; 
you  are  bidden  to  come  that  we  may  talk  and  drink 
together."  The  answer  is:  "That  is  not  hard  to 
accept,  being  asked  to  such  honour." 

Each  guest  on  arriving  on  Slava  eve  calls  out, 
"Master  of  the  house,  art  thou  ready  to  receive 
guests?"  The  "Svetchar,"  i.  e.,  the  man  who  is  the 
head  of  the  family  celebrating  the  Slava,  answers, 
"Yes,  such  guests  as  thou,"  and  steps  forward  to  em- 
brace the  visitor,  who  says,  "May  thy  Slava  be  hap- 
py!" The  host  answers,  "And  thy  soul,  may  it  be 
happy  before  God!"  The  guest  gives  an  apple  or 
quince  or  other  fruit  to  the  master  of  the  house  and 
enters.    This  ceremony  is  repeated  with  each  new- 


CUSTOMS  AND   TRADITIONS  59 

comer.  When  all  are  assembled  the  wife  or  daughter 
of  the  house  enters,  carrying  a  pitcher  of  water  and 
a  small  basin  and  a  finely  embroidered  towel.  Com- 
ing to  each  in  turn,  she  pours  out  a  little  water  over 
the  hands,  letting  it  trickle  down  into  the  basin — they 
never  dip  their  fingers  into  the  basin.  When  she  has 
gone  the  rounds,  the  guests  all  stand  around  the  table, 
which  does  not  contain  the  Kolatch  or  the  Kolyivo, 
the  Svetchar  places  a  very  large  candle  in  the 
centre  of  the  table  and  lights  it.  He  then  takes  from 
the  hands  of  some  of  the  women-folks  a  small  earth- 
en vessel  containing  live  charcoal,  upon  which  he 
scatters  incense.  He  first  incenses  the  picture  of  the 
saint,  then  in  turn  each  one  of  the  guests.  He  says, 
"Brothers,  let  as  pray,"  and  unless  there  chances  to 
be  present  some  one  possessing  an  especial  gift  of 
eloquent  expression,  they  all  stand  with  bowed  heads 
praying  in  silence.  After  that  the  guests  sit  and  begin 
supper.  The  host  remains  standing  and  serves  his 
guests,  pouring  out  the  wine  or  plum  brandy  (slivo- 
vit/.a  or  rakia).  After  supper  come  toasts  and 
speech-making. 

In  form  and  subject  the  toasts  for  this  occasion  are 
fixed  by  tradition.  They  number  seven.  The  first  is, 
"May  God  always  help  us!"  The  second,  "For  the 
better  hour!"  supposed  to  refer  to  happy  meeting 
after  death.  The  glory  of  the  Holy  Trinity."  The 
third,  "May  the  Holy  Trinity  help  us  in  all  places, 
on  oui  journeys  on  the  roads,  before  the  judges,  in 
the  forests,  on  the  waters;  the  Holy  Trinity  guide  us, 
reach  forth  to  help  and  preserve  us  from  all  ill!"  The 
fourth  toast  is  offered  by  the  guests  to  the  host  and 


60  THE   SERVIAN    PEOPLE 

wishes  him  many  years  to  conic  in  which  to  celebrate 
his  Slava.  JIc  answers,  "You  are  .'ill  welcome  to 
this  house;  mayyou  be  happy  wherever  you  maj  be!" 
The  iii'th  toast  is  proposed  by  the  guests  to  the  master 

of  the   house  and   to  his  family.      The  sixth   is  given 

by  the  Svetchar  to  the  health  and  happiness  of  his 
guests  -"to  those  who  have  been  asked  and  to  those 
who  have  come  unbidden";  and  the  seventh  toast  is 
likewise  proposed  by  the  host  to  the  health  of  the 

families  of  his  guests.     Upon  this  all  depart  to  return 

again  next  morning;    those  who  have  too  far  to  jour- 
ney are  invited  to  stay  the  night  as  guests  of  the  house. 
The  celebrations  of  the  next  day — of  the  Slava  it- 
self— begin,  unless  the  priest  can  come  to  the  house, 

by  the  Svetchar  going  early  to  the  nearest  church, 
carrying  with  him  the  Kolyivo,  Kolatch,  wine,  in- 
cense, and  the  great  wax  candle.  These  objects  are 
placed  on  the  altar  and  remain  there  during  a  service. 
Then  the  priest  cuts  the  Slava-kolatch  from  the  bot- 
tom side  in  the  cuts,  following  the  cross  marked  on  the 
top  of  the  cake.  The  priest  and  Svetchar  both  hold 
the  cake,  chanting  certain  prayers  and  moving  the 
cake  in  rhythm  as  they  sing;  they  then  break  it  be- 
tween them  and  where  it  breaks  in  the  middle  some 
drops  of  wine  are  poured.  The  priest  keeps  one 
half,  the  other  is  taken  home  by  the  Svetchar.  The 
Kolyivo  is  also  especially  consecrated. 

Where  it  is  possible  this  consecration  service  takes 
place  at  the  home  of  the  Svetchar  before  sitting  down 
to  table  for  the  great  feast  at  noon.  In  that  case 
every  one  present,  the  whole  family  with  the  guests 
of  the  eve  before,  their  women-folk  and  children,  take 


CUSTOMS   AND   TRADITIONS  61 

part  in  the  ceremony  of  consecration.  As  the  priest 
holds  the  cake  a  person  next  to  him  holds  a  hand  on 
his  arm  or  shoulder,  giving  the  other  to  the  person 
next,  the  chain  continuing  along  to  half  the  guests,  the 
other  half  forming  a  like  chain  from  the  side  of  the 
char.  As  they  chant  they  all  sway  in  rhythm 
and  this  formula  is  repeated:  "Christ  is  in  our  midst 
now  and  to  the  ages,  amen." 

The  half  <>t'  the  broken  cake  is  placed  on  the  table 
with  a  wax  candle  lighted  on  or  by  it.  The  guests 
then  swing  the  incense-burner  before  each  other, 
cross  themselves,  and  await  in  silence,  still  standing, 
for  the  Svetchar  to  speak.  "Brothers,  let  us  now 
drink  to  the  eternal  glory  of  God;  wherever  and  when- 
ever th.it  glorj  i-  honoured  and  mentioned  by  men, 
there  and  always  may  it  help  US,  God  grant  it." 
The  persons  present  answer  in  chorus,  "May  God 
give  it."  One  of  them  then  sin^s,  "May  God  and 
His  Glory  forever  help  him  who  drinks  to  the  Glory 
of  God.  What  i>  more  beauteous  to  see  on  this  earth 
than  Glory  of  God  and  bread  that  is  earned!" 

The  glasses  are  filled;  the  Svetchar  says:  "We 
have  drunk  to  God's  glory;  let  us  drink  to  the  honour 
of  Holy  Cross  and  of  our  Christian  names.  God 
give  that  we  never  forget  the  names  of  our  christening; 
let  us  honour  them  always  in  His  name!"  Then  again, 
all  standing,  the  Svetchar  proposes  the  third  toast  to 
th<-  honour  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  with  the  same  invoca- 
tion as  i>  usual  in  naming  the  Holy  Trinity — "for  help 
in  all  times,  in  all  places,  that  every  Christian  be  blessed 
in  his  home,  in  his  work,  on  his  journeys  in  dark  for- 
ests and  on  the  seas,  may  the  Holy  Trinity  help  us!" 


62  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

Then  the  wife  or  daughter  of  the  Svetehar  hands 
the  Kolyivo  from  a  tray  to  each  of  the  guests,  who 
in  taking  a  spoonful  of  the  wheat,  nuts,  and  honey, 
pronounces  a  benediction  for  health,  wealth,  and  joy 
to  the  family.  The  guests  then  sit  down  to  the  feast 
of  which  the  chief  viand  is,  in  summer,  roast  lamb,  or, 
in  winter,  a  suckling  pig.  If  the  Slava  should  come 
during  fasting  time,  the  piece  de  resistance  is  fish 
roasted  on  layers  of  onions  and  red  peppers.  They 
fall  to  with  great  heartiness,  with  laughter  and  fun- 
making.  Songs  are  sung  now  and  then;  jokes  are 
cracked;  pranks  are  played.  Sometimes  one  rises  to 
offer  some  toast  or  make  a  short  speech.  The  old 
national  ballads  are  recited,  recounting  the  great  deeds 
of  national  heroes  and  tales  of  the  old  Servian  kings 
who  ruled  in  might  and  majesty.  After  dinner-time 
is  dancing  of  the  "Kolo"  to  music  of  flute  or  bagpipe 
or  to  that  played  by  gipsies.  The  festival  is  kept  up 
in  many  districts  for  two  days,  during  which  time  the 
great  candle  continues  to  burn.  The  custom  used  to 
be  that  the  rolling  out  of  an  empty  wine  barrel  was 
the  signal  that  the  festivities  were  at  an  end;  in 
Bosna-Hertzegovina  and  Dalmatia,  where  the  wine 
was  kept  in  skins,  the  hint  was  conveyed  by  an  empty 
skin,  flat  and  folded,  put  up  on  a  table.  The  guests, 
on  taking  leave,  congratulate  the  host  and  pray  that  he 
may  yet  live  many  years  to  celebrate  his  saint  in  such 
good  fashion.  During  the  rejoicings  at  the  Slava,  as 
on  other  occasions  of  celebrations  or  ceremonies, 
pistol-shots  are  fired  in  the  air. 

Every  village  also  has  its  patron  saint,  or  saint  to 
which  it  owes  a  vow,  which  is  celebrated  in  much  the 


CUSTOMS   AND   TRADITIONS  63 

same  manner  as  the  family  Slava,  and  is  called  "Za- 
vetima,"  from  Zavet  (vow).  The  host  being  one  of  the 
most  important  men  in  the  village,  the  Kolyivo  is 
used,  but  the  greater  part  of  the  ceremonies  take  place 
in  church.  In  case  the  Zavetima  should  fall  some  time 
between  Easter  and  the  end  of  June,  the  ceremony  is 
called  "Carrying  of  the  Cross"  ("Nossiti  Krsta"). 

In  the  vicinity  of  the  village,  at  different  points, 
grow  trees  which  bear,  deeply  cut  into  their  bark, 
a  large  cross.  The  tree  is  generally  a  lime  tree — the 
sacred  Slavonic  tree — or  oak  or  wild  fruit  tree.  These 
trees  are  sacred,  must  not  be  cut  down  nor  injured  in 
any  way,  or  if  they  bear  fruit  the  fruit  must  not  be 
gathered. 

For  the  carrying  of  the  cross  the  villagers  assemble 
under  one  such  tree,  and  after  prayer  they  form  a 
procession  headed  by  a  young  man  carrying  a  very 
large  wooden  cross.  Immediately  after  him  goes  the 
priest,  richly  vested,  bearing  the  Holy  Scriptures 
preciously  bound.  The  more  prominent  villagers  fol- 
low two  by  two,  each  carrying  the  icon  or  picture  of 
his  saint  from  his  own  house.  The  rest  of  the  popu- 
lation follows  also  in  double  file,  forming  a  long  pro- 
cession which  winds  slowly  through  the  meadows  and 
hills  and  among  the  trees,  chanting  over  and  over 
again  the  refrain,  "The  cross-bearers  implore,  God 
have  mercy ! "  As  the  procession  comes  to  each  sacred 
tree,  they  kneel  while  the  priest  invokes  Almighty 
God  to  bless  the  villagers  with  happiness  and  pros- 
perity. The  priest  then  cuts  afresh  the  bark  of  the 
tree  where  it  was  before  marked  with  the  cross, 
and  the  procession  proceeds  on  its  way.    As  with  all 


64  THE  SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

Servian  festivities  and  celebrations,  the  villagers  fire 
off  their  pistols  as  they  go  along. 
When  the  solemn  procession  Is  over  the  villagers 

who  have  brought  food  and  wine  hold  an  immense 
picnic,  which  is  the  occasion  of  merry-making,  dan- 
cing, singing,  games,  and  contests  of  strength. 

Marriage. — Because  of  the  fact  thai  marriages  so 
rarely  occur  between  inhabitants  of  the  same  village, 
and  because  of  the  severe  rules  that  guard  young 
girls,  matches  are  generally  arranged  between  the 
parents  of  the  young  people,  who  have  not  much 
opportunity  of  falling  in  love  before  marriage.  How- 
ever, romances  resulting  in  runaway  matches,  or  a 
kind  of  kidnapping  ending  in  marriage,  sometimes 
occur.  An  old  song  recounts  how  that  two  girls, 
dear  friends  together,  were  married  and  went  to 
homes  far  separate  from  each  other.  One  finds  thai 
she  loves  her  husband,  but  fears  that  the  other  may 
not  be  happy.  So  she  goes  out  into  the  garden  at 
night  alone  and  says:  "O  bright  and  beautiful  star, 
tell  me  is  my  sweet  companion  happy  in  her  new 
home  ?"  The  star  answers:  "The  people  of  her  new 
family  are  happy,  all  except  her  young  husband.  He 
is  not  happy;  there  is  no  joy  for  him."  Then  the  girl 
answers:  "Go,  sweet  star,  greet  for  me  my  dear 
friend;  my  mother  knows  where  the  magic  plants 
grow  which  will  turn  the  heart  of  my  dear  sister  to 
her  lord.  I  will  send  her  these;  she  will  then  find 
gladness  in  her  new  home!" 

There  were,  by  the  census  of  1905,  in  Servia,  about 
eight  hundred  women  to  every  thousand  men. 


CUSTOMS   AND   TRADITIONS  65 

When  the  son  of  a  house  is  come  to  full  young 
manhood  his  lather  begins  to  look  out  for  a  young 
girl  who  would  make  him  a  suitable  wife.  Through 
a  third  party  the  inclinations  of  the  girl's  parents  are 
sounded,  and  when  he  is  convinced  that  the  marriage 
would  he  agreeable,  he  sets  out  with  a  friend  or  two 
to  ask  the  parents  formally  for  the  girl's  hand.  He 
takes  a  hunch  of  flowers,  a  cake  of  wheaten  flour,  and 
some  coins.  lie  arrives  at  about  the  time  of  the 
evening  meal,  the  girl's  father  receives  him  and  his 
friends  at  the  table,  and  after  his  demand,  expressed 
with  ceremony,  a  show  is  made  by  the  master  of  the 
house  of  consulting  with  his  wife,  who  is  bidden  to 
ask   th<>  daughter   what   her  inclinations  are.     The 

father  meanwhile  |><>ur>  red  wine  for  his  guests;  they 
all  drink  with  an  invocation  that  God  will  guide  them 
according  to  His  will.  The  young  girl  is  brought  into 
the  room  by  her  brother  <>r  a  near  male  relative  and 
led  up  to  the  one  for  whose  son  she  is  destined.  She 
bows  and  kisses  his  hand,  then  kisses  the  hand  of 
the  others,  and  finally  of  her  father.  The  father  of 
her  future  husband  offers  her  the  flowers  and  the 
coins  with  wishes  for  her  happiness.  In  accepting  the 
flowers  -he  bows  low  to  him  again  and  kisses  his  hand, 
and  that  "taking  of  the  money"  engages  her  troth. 
After  the  -irl  leaves  the  room  some  of  the  men  fire 
off  pistol-shots  in  the  court-yard  to  announce  the  en- 
gagement.  The  father  of  the  young  man  puts  down 
B  piece  of  gold  "as  price  paid  for  the  girl,"  according 
to  ancient  custom.  The  two  fathers  embrace  and 
count  each  other  from  that  time  as  relatives.  They 
arrange  all  details  for  the  wedding.     Custom  wills 


66  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

that  the  bridegroom's  father  shall  make  gifts  to  the 
bride's  women  relatives  and  to  herself,  and  that  he 
shall  furnish  the  wedding-gown.  When  the  engage- 
ment ring  is  brought  by  friends  and  relatives  of  the 
bride's  future  family,  it  is  an  occasion  of  festivities  for 
the  young  of  both  sexes,  but  the  bridegroom  is  not 
present. 

Kariteh  and  Militchevitch  and  other  writers  have 
described  the  wedding  cavalcade  and  its  ceremonies. 

On  the  wedding  day  or  a  day  or  so  before,  accord- 
ing to  the  distance  separating  the  homes  of  bride  and 
groom,  very  early  in  the  morning,  the  young  man's 
friends  gather  at  his  father's  house  in  great  spirit, 
and  after  a  short  repast,  taken  with  many  toasts  and 
good  wishes,  they  mount  their  horses,  fire  their  pis- 
tols into  the  air,  and  merrily  start  for  the  home  of  the 
bride.  They  are  armed  and  with  them  goes  a  stand- 
ard-bearer and  a  voyvoda,  or  commander.  The 
horses  have  been  gaily  decked  with  flowers  and 
streamers,  sometimes  have  hung  on  them  bright  hand- 
kerchiefs richly  embroidered,  and  other  gifts  by  the 
villagers,  who  are  all  interested  in  the  wadding  and 
are  each  and  all  anxious  to  contribute  something  to 
the  gladness  of  the  event.  At  the  head  of  the  caval- 
cade  rides  a  young  man  on  a  horse  with  gay  trap- 
pings, carrying  the  "Choutura,"  or  flat  wooden  jug  of 
red  wine,  which  is  also  decked  with  flowers,  an 
embroidered  hand-towel,  and  hung  with  chains  of 
bright  silver  coins.  It  is  the  role  of  this  wine-bearer 
to  offer  wine  to  all  persons  who  may  be  met  on  the 
way  and  to  make  fun  and  jokes  on  the  journey  and 
during   the  whole  time  of  the  wedding   rejoicings. 


CUSTOMS  AND   TRADITIONS  67 

He  is  the  clown  of  the  occasion.  His  jokes  are  not 
always  in  the  best  taste,  for  he  is  free  to  say  what  he 
pleases  and  to  whom  he  pleases  so  long  as  he  is  amus- 
ing or  droll.  The  bride  and  the  groom  are  not  exempt 
from  his  sallies,  and  he  uses  his  privileges  to  the  full. 
After  him  come  the  standard-bearer  and  the  voy- 
voda,  who  has  strict  military  command  of  the  whole 
cavalcade.  Next  come  the  bride's-maids,  near  rela- 
tives of  the  groom.  They  bring  presents  to  the  bride, 
with  flowers,  and  her  wedding-dress  sent  by  the  father 
of  the  future  husband.  Then  rides  the  bridegroom 
with  his  "Koom,"  or  first  witness,  on  his  right  side, 
and  the  "Stari-svat,"  the  second  witness,  on  the  left; 
then  riding  two  by  two  the  rest  of  the  wedding  guests. 
The  bride  awaits  them  surrounded  by  her  family  and 
friends;  her  young  girl  friends,  grouped  by  twos,  sing 
songs  of  epithalamium,  simple  in  words  but  relating 
the  emotions  of  mother  and  daughter,  their  pain  at 
parting,  their  looking  forward  to  new  happiness. 
The  girls  dance  and  make  merry  about  her. 

Many  pistol  and  gun  shots  tell  of  the  arrival  of  the 
bridegroom's  cavalcade.  They  are  welcomed  with 
music  often  played  by  gipsies,  and  invited  to  the 
table,  which  is  richly  furnished  with  good  things. 

The  bride's-maids  lead  the  bride  into  one  of  the 
Vayats  (huts  or  pavilions)  that  surround  the  main 
house,  and  there  they  dress  her  in  her  wedding-gown 
and  make  her  ready  for  the  ceremony.  A  brother  or 
near  male  relative  waits  at  the  door  to  hand  her  out. 
Her  appearance  in  the  garden  or  court-yard  is  greeted 
1  »y  volleys  of  shots  fired  into  the  air  by  the  bridegroom's 
friends.    The  girls  give  her  a  coronal  of  flowers  and 


68  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

show  her  where  the  groom  stands;  she  looks  through 
it  toward  him,  then  goes  through  the  ceremony  of 
kissing  the  hands  of  all  the  men  guests,  beginning 
with  the  Ivoom  and  Stari-svat.  She  then  is  conducted 
with  ceremony  to  the  large  central  room,  where  she 
finds  her  father  and  mother  seated  before  the  fire;  she 
bends  down  and  kisses  the  hearthstone,  makes  obei- 
sance to  her  parents,  kissing  their  hands,  and  receives 
their  embrace  and  their  blessing. 

Her  brother,  who  has  conducted  her  through  all 
this  ceremonial,  confides  her  to  the  keeping  of  the 
"Dever,"  whose  special  duty  it  is  to  protect  her 
until  she  is  safely  arrived  in  the  home  of  her 
husband. 

The  husband's  cavalcade  then  mount  their  horses 
with  the  bride  and  set  out  for  the  church.  The 
Dever  leads  the  bride  to  the  altar  and  gives  her 
away. 

A  curious  custom  exacts  that  on  coming  to  the 
home  of  her  husband  she  must  step  to  a  sack  of 
grain,  then  to  a  plough,  and  then  to  the  entrance  to 
the  court-yard,  where  a  boy  babe  is  given  into  her 
arms  by  a  woman.  She  lifts  the  babe  high  in  the  air, 
kisses  it,  and  returns  it  to  the  one  who  gave  it  to  her. 
She  then  receives  bread  and  red  wine,  and  with  those 
emblems  enters  her  new  home. 

She  is  awaited  on  the  hearth  before  the  central  fire 
by  her  parents-in-law;  they  greet  her  with  ceremony, 
lead  her  around  the  fire,  and  the  mother  gives  her  a 
shovel  with  which  she  heaps  together  the  bright  coals 
that  had  been  scattered  on  the  hearth.  Then  comes 
the  great  wedding  feast  to  which  all  the  villagers  have 


CUSTOMS   AND   TRADITIONS  69 

done  honour  by  contributing  to  its  rich  store.  The 
bride's  gifts  are  distributed  by  a  woman  before  the 
guests  take  places  at  the  tables. 

The  Choutura-bearer,  the  "jester"  of  the  wed- 
ding, begins  his  nonsense  by  describing  in  comic 
terms  in  a  loud  voice  the  presents  which  the  bride 
has  brought  to  the  Koom,  the  Stari-svat,  and  various 
members  of  her  new  family,  and  so  on  he  continues, 
bantering  and  poking  fun  at  each  one  in  turn  during 
all  the  festivities.  After  the  banquet  the  time  passes 
in  dance  and  song,  laughing  and  talking,  reciting, 
etc.  At  nightfall  the  Koom  goes  with  the  bridegroom 
to  the  Vayat,  or  hut  prepared  for  him,  and  afterward 
the  young  wife  is  conducted  there  by  the  Dever, 
who  hands  her  to  the  Koom,  who  in  turn  places 
her  hand  in  that  of  the  young  husband  and  goes 
away. 

D  ifh  and  Buried. — To  the  Servian,  whose  many 
invocations  during  the  daily  round  of  events  show 
him  to  think  of  himself  as  in  constant  communica- 
tion or  connection  with  the  denizens  of  the  unseen, 
whether  God,  Christ,  the  Holy  Spirit,  saints,  nymphs, 
or  other  spirits,  evil  or  benign,  death  seems  to  bring 
no  terrors. 

A  well-known  New  York  divine  (Rev.  Canon 
Starr),  on  Easter  morning  of  this  year,  in  the  New 
York  Pro-Cathedral,  said  to  the  crowded  congrega- 
tion before  him:  'kYou  all,  every  one  of  you,  know 
from  circumstantial  evidence  that  you  are  going  some 
day  to  die,  but  not  one  of  you  believes  it.  If  you 
did  your  life  would  in  some  way  be  different  from 
what  it  is." 


70  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

The  Servians,  in  adopting  Christianity,  took  it  in 
many  instances  in  a  literal  or  child-like  sense.  They 
believed  it.  The  atmosphere  of  prayer  in  which  he 
lives  from  morning  to  night,  and  the  continual  atti- 
tude of  asking  God's  help  in  every  act  and  relation 
of  his  daily  existence,  form  a  constant  reminder  to 
the  Servian  of  the  ephemeral  nature  of  this  life's 
business.  He  takes  as  a  matter  of  course  what  one 
might  call  his  relativity  to  the  eternalities,  which,  to 
his  mind,  are  no  less  a  part  of  reality  than  are  the 
changing  things  of  the  seen  world. 

He  shows  no  fear  of  death.  When  death  is  near  he 
asks  forgiveness  of  all  present,  or  should  he  be  un- 
conscious at  that  moment,  they  one  by  one  pro- 
nounce forgiveness  in  the  name  of  God,  making  the 
response  they  would  have  uttered  had  he  been  able  to 
ask  the  pardon. 

Some  of  the  burial  rites  and  beliefs  concerning  the 
soul  after  death  show  a  simple  acceptance  of  Christ 
as  the  Prototype.  Others  point  to  traditions  of  ages 
far  past,  to  a  time  when  Dabog,  the  Sungod,  and 
purification  by  fire  were  the  governing  conceptions 
of  the  race. 

As  the  ancestral  cinerary  urns  of  antiquity  bear 
witness  to  the  Slav  custom  of  burning  the  dead,  so 
some  fragmentary  remains  of  that  ancient  rite  are 
suggested  in  the  burial  ceremony  still  observed  in 
many  districts  among  the  Serbs. 

The  details  of  the  ritual  vary,  but  the  intention 
expressed  is  the  same. 

Before  the  body  is  placed  in  the  coffin  a  fire  is 
made  in  it  with  sulphur  and  gunpowder  and  wisps 


CUSTOMS  AND   TRADITIONS  71 

of  tow.  The  same  is  done  to  the  grave  before  burial, 
and  at  sunset  of  the  day  women  once  more  go  to  the 
closed  tomb  and  burn  upon  it  the  same  elements. 
When  the  body  is  lowered,  coins  are  thrown  in — re- 
calling the  objects  in  bronze  found  in  the  cinerary 
urns  of  the  Veneds.  Each  one  present  casts  in  a 
handful  of  earth,  begging  the  soul  which  is  starting 
on  its  journey  to  carry  messages  to  those  among  the 
loved  ones  or  friends  who  have  passed  on  into  the 
world  beyond.  These  messages  are  quite  simple  and 
natural,  words  of  love  and  greeting,  such  as  would  be 
confided  to  some  one  of  the  living  who  might  be  set- 
ting out  to  a  distant  part  of  the  country.  Another 
custom  of  apparently  pagan  origin  is  that  of  giving 
"feasts  for  the  soul  of  the  departed." 

First,  on  the  day  of  burial  a  bullock  or  sheep  is 
slain,  showing  the  idea  of  sacrifice,  and  its  roasted 
flesh  is  eaten  by  those  attending  the  funeral  as  the 
first  "feast  for  the  soul."  At  that  feast,  after  prayer 
has  been  offered  and  the  guests  have  passed  the 
burning  incense  among  themselves,  swinging  it  one 
to  another,  there  is  handed  around,  the  dish  of 
boiled  wheat,  or  Kolyivo,  which  has  been  conse- 
crated by  the  priest.  Some  of  this  food,  with  red 
wine,  is  put  on  a  table  in  the  room  where  the  death 
occurred,  in  case  the  soul,  not  yet  ascended,  should 
feel  hungry.  This  may  derive  from  old  tradition, but 
it  may  also  be  suggested  from  Christ's  eating  the 
broiled  fish  with  his  disciples  in  the  early  morn,  by  the 
shore  of  Galilee,  after  his  burial  and  resurrection  but 
before  his  ascension. 

The  ceremonial  at  this  first  banquet  is  expressive 


72  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

and  shows  the  instinct  for  the  beautiful  in  the  Sla- 
vonic soul. 

A  friend  or  relative  capable  of  presiding  has  been 
asked  to  be  master  of  the  feast,  and  stands  at  tin- 
head  of  the  table— all  stand  during  the  ceremonies 
which  initiate  the  least.  It  falls  to  him  to  pray  t'<>r 
the  soul  that  is  about  to  leave  the  earth,  and  to  ex- 
press in  the  name  of  all  the  assemblage  tokens  of 
affection  and  regard  for  it  and  sympathy  for  those 
left  behind.  Meanwhile,  the  women  relatives,  pre 
ceded  by  the  dearest,  have  come  softly  into  the  room, 
and,  with  hair  falling  loose  over  the  shoulders,  they 
stand  silently  back  of  the  master,  with  their  heads 
slightly  drooped  to  one  side  and  their  hands  to  their 
hips,  recalling  the  pose  of  statuettes  found  near  the 
old  cinerary  burial  grounds  in  Bosnia.  When  lie  has 
finished  speaking  they  begin  to  file  in  procession 
around  the  table,  their  Leader  wailing  and  the  others 
grieving  in  low,  rhythmic  murmurs.  An  old  woman 
from  among  the  funeral  guests  comes  forward,  puts 
her  arms  around  the  mourner,  and  says:  "Grieve  no 
more;  it  is  God's  will.  Think!  as  thy  dear  one  has 
gone,  so  must  we  all  go !  May  God  grant  long  life  to 
those  who  still  remain  to  thee!" 

The  women  wear  no  flowers  or  jewels  during  the 
year  of  mourning,  and  go  often  to  the  tomb  to  wail 
and  ask  God's  forgiveness  for  the  soul  of  the  dead. 
They  give  a  ritualistic  sense  to  this  wailing,  which  is 
done  rhythmically,  crooning  in  unison  or  in  a  sad, 
monotonous  melody.  It  is  sometimes  chanted  in 
spontaneous  verse. 

On  the  day  following  the  burial  the  house  is  thor- 


CUSTOMS  AND   TRADITIONS  73 

oughly  cleansed  and  the  objects  used  in  the  cleansing 
burned. 

According  to  a  belief  relating  to  Christ,  they  think 
that  the  soul  lingers  on  the  earth  as  He  did  for  forty 
days  after  death,  visiting  its  old  haunts,  and  finally, 
that  it  goes  on  the  fortieth  day  to  Jerusalem  whence 
it  ascends  to  its  place  in  the  skies. 

That  fortieth  day  is  the  occasion  of  one  of  the 
feasts  for  the  soul,  the  last  of  which  marks  the  anni- 
versary of  the  death. 

Pobratimstvo  (Brotherhood)  and  Posestrinstvo  (Sis- 
terhood).— An  old  Servian  custom  still  surviving  in 
many  districts  is  the  adoption  by  two  men  or  boys  of 
each  other  as  "brother,"  or  by  girls  as  "sister,"  or 
sometimes  by  two  of  different  sex  as  brother  and 
sister.  The  brother,  in  that  case,  would  be  a  relative 
of  the  girl,  too  near  in  blood,  according  to  Servian 
usage,  to  marry  or  admit  of  any  but  fraternal  affec- 
tions between  the  two.  It  would  be  sacrilege  and 
illegal  for  them  to  marry.  This  system  is  and  was 
the  literal  application  of  the  Christian  principle  of 
"brotherhood,"  developed  into  an  institution  during 
the  bitterest  times  <>f  oppression  by  a  foreign  foe. 
Two  \  < n 1 1 1 lt  men  going  into  battle  bound  themselves 
as  brothers  in  ties  of  close  fealty  which  endured 
through  all  trials.  The  oath  of  fidelity  for  life,  was 
sworn,  before  the  altar  in  the  church  and  consecrated 
by  the  priest,  and  often  sealed  by  the  exchange  of  a 
•  hop  of  blood  drunk  in  a  cup  of  red  wine.  If  one  died 
the  surviving  one  was,  in  all  respects,  like  a  true  brother 
to  the  family  of  his  dead  "pobratim."  This  tie  is 
considered  most  sacred  by  Servians  and  cannot  be 


74  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

broken  no  matter  how  severely  it  may  be  tried  by 
any  circumstances  that  may  arise.  It  is  recognised 
by  a  law  conferring  right  of  inheritance  as  well  as 
family  obligations.  Milosh  Obrenovieh,  of  the  war  of 
Servian  liberation,  was  the  pobratim  of  the  Turkish 
commander  Ali  Aga  Sertchesina,  a  Mohammedan 
Servian,  who  was  afterward  opposed  to  him  in  battle. 
When  the  Aga's  army  was  vanquished,  Milosh  was 
a  brother  to  him  and  protected  his  personal  life,  liberty, 
and  property,  as  he  in  similar  circumstances  protected 
Milosh's  life. 

The  relationships  of  father,  mother,  sister,  brother 
are  peculiarly  sacred  to  Servians. 

The  principle  of  "the  brotherhood  of  man,"  not  as 
a  theory  but  as  a  daily  life-motive,  is  manifested  in 
many  Servian  institutions.  The  Moba  is  the  gather- 
ing together  by  spontaneous  consent  of  neighbours  to 
help  one  another  either  to  put  in  his  crops  or  to  har- 
vest them,  especially  in  the  case  of  widows  and  poor 
farmers  who  have  not  the  necessary  help  on  their 
farm  and  are  too  poor  to  hire  such.  Like  many  other 
Servian  reunions,  for  one  cause  or  another  the  Moba 
is  made  the  occasion  of  hearty  co-operation  (en- 
tirely gratuitous)  in  work  and  winds  up  with  merry- 
making. 

When  the  day's  work  is  done  the  social  part  of  the 
proceedings  are  ushered  in  with  hand-washing,  which 
is  always  done  by  pure  water  being  poured  on  the 
hands.  Then  in  some  districts  they  stand  around  a  tree 
and  gaze  up  toward  a  lighted  candle  stuck  high  in  its 
branches;   they  pray   God   for  his   benediction   and 


CUSTOMS   AND   TRADITIONS  75 

honour  the  Holy  Trinity;  the  rest  is  free-hearted  fun, 
feasting,  dance,  and  song.  The  spread  is  furnished  by 
dishes,  cakes,  meats,  fruits,  wine,  nuts,  sweets,  etc., 
a  small  share  of  which  is  brought  by  each  and  every 
member  of  the  Moba  gathering. 

A  quaint  and  curious  custom  still  found  in  some 
parts  of  Servia  is  the  "Dodola,"  certainly  a  survival 
from  remote  pagan  times,  when  the  children  of  men 
were  the  children  of  nature  and  felt  themselves  in 
very  near  communion  with  the  trees  and  hills  and  the 
forces  of  sun,  wind,  and  water. 

Personified  into  gods,  the  first  of  all  the  most  high, 
or  "Sve-Vishnyi,"  "Da bog,"  or  "God  the  giver" 
(the  verb  daii  means  to  give),  was  the  sun.  Peroun 
was  the  Thundcnr  and  Lightning-wielder,  and  his 
sister  personified  Fire,  the  modern  "Mary  of  the 
fire."  Certain  plants  and  flowers  were  sacred;  the 
purple  iris,  "the  flower  of  Peroun."  is  found  every- 
where in  Servia.  Dodola  has  in  her  keeping  the  rain 
and  waters  of  springs  and  streams.  If  the  summer 
heat  is  excessive  and  has  scorched  up  the  fields  and 
dried  up  the  streams,  the  villagers  still  to-day  invoke 
Dodola.  A  young  gipsy  girl  is  employed  to  lead  in 
the  rite;  the  Servian  peasant-maids  are  too  modest  to 
themselves  play  the  role.  This  gipsy  girl  is  stripped 
down  to  the  costume  of  a  savage,  and  thus,  almost 
stark  naked,  is  wreathed  and  has  her  body  and  waist 
entwined  with  willow  and  other  green  branches  stuck 
with  blossoms,  until  she  is  practically  clad  in  flower- 
bedecked  verdure.  In  this  guise  she  leads  a  proces- 
sion of  young  village  girls,  in  the  blazing  mid-day 
heat,  by  all  the  houses,  dancing  and  posing  as  she 


76  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

goes,  while  the  girls  in  her  train  chant  in  rhythm  an 
old  song,  ending  every  verse  with  the  words: 

This  our  Doda  begs  of  God 

Oi  Dodo,  oi  Dodole! 

Send  a  downpour  of  sharp  rain 

Oi  Dodo,  oi  Dodolc! 

To  soft  bedew  afresh  the  fields 

Oi  Dodo,  oi  Dodolc! 

And  so  renew  the  stream  of  life 

Oi  Dodo,  oi  Dodole! 

etc.,  etc. 

As  the  procession  passes  the  houses,  children  and 
young  girls  pour  water  over  Dodola,  and  so,  they  say, 
the  cooling  drops  will  soon  begin  to  fall  from  the 
skies.1 

Fire. — Many  fundamental  conceptions  relating  to 
prosperity  and  the  good  fortune  of  the  home-group 
centre  about  the  idea  of  the  fire  that  burns  on  the 
family  hearth. 

The  customs  arising  from  these  ideas  vary  some- 
what in  form,  but  are  all  expressive  of  the  sacredness 
of  family  life  and  the  symbolism  of  fire  as  the  life- 
giving  and  purifying  agent.  It  is  as  if  these  people 
still  linger  under  some  thrill  of  the  great  portent  to 
humankind  which  came  in  prehistoric  ages  with  the 
discovery  of  fire. 

The  hearth  is  in  the  centre  of  the  largest  room ;  the 
logs  rest  on  iron  andirons  which  are  composed  either 
of  two  pieces,  one  wrought  with  a  cock's  head  at  the 
top,  the  other  with  the  head  of  a  snake ;  or  sometimes 

'Dodola  recalls  Botticelli's  famous  picture  called  "Spring,"  where  the 
engarlanded  maid  receives  the  enigmatic  squirt  of  water. 


CUSTOMS  AND   TRADITIONS  77 

the  andiron  is  one  large  piece  used  as  a  backing  or 
a  support  for  the  logs,  and  is  then  wrought  in  the 
form  of  a  standing  bull,  horse,  or  other  domestic 
animal. 

Fire  is  obtained  for  the  family  hearth  according  to 
a  rite  and  is  called  the  "living  fire."  The  ceremony 
is  obtained  by  the  friction  of  two  pieces  of  dry  lime 
wood  and  the  use  of  dry  tow  or  punk  of  the  oak  tree. 
Some  words  of  invocation  begin  the  action,  but  dur- 
ing it,  until  the  sparks  appear,  no  word  must  be 
spoken.  There  are  four  or  five  different  forms  of 
performing  this  rite,  the  most  modern  of  which  is 
that  a  carpenter  produces  the  fire  with  his  turning- 
machine  and  sells  it  to  the  villagers.  The  essential 
point  to  the  people  is  that  the  fire  for  the  hearth  must 
not  be  made  with  matches  or  in  any  other  way  than 
by  rubbing  together  two  pieces  of  dry  wood. 

This  "living  fire,"  as  it  is  called,  is  believed  to  be 
part  of  the  "Eternal"  Holy  Fire.  It  must  not  be 
blown  with  the  mouth,  and  must  never  be  allowed  to 
die  out  on  the  hearth  except  in  case  of  pestilence  or 
infectious  malady  in  the  house.  In  case  of  epidemic 
the  fires  of  the  whole  village  are  put  out,  the  hearth 
cleansed,  and  with  great  ceremony  of  a  religious 
nature  new  "living  fire"  is  obtained  and  the  family 
hearths  all  relighted. 

When  a  bride  comes  to  her  new  home,  after  she 
has  been  guided  by  the  Koom  or  her  mother-in-law 
three  times  around  the  hearth,  and  heaped  together 
the  scattered  coals  as  a  sign  of  union  and  force,  she 
strikes  the  burning  logs  with  the  shovel,  trying  to 
beat  out  as  great  a  cloud  of  sparks  as  possible,  say- 


78  THE   SERVIAN    PEOPLE 

ing:  "So  many  sparks,  so  many  cattle;  so  many 
sparks,  so  many  children." 

At  Christmas,  at  Easter,  on  all  holidays,  and  on  the 
occasion  of  marriage  or  burial,  fire  is  the  centre  of 
much  ceremonial. 

On  St.  John's  day  great  fires  arc  lighted  in  the 
meadows  or  on  the  hillsides,  and  the  hoys  and  girls 
dance  around  them  in  rings  to  bagpipes,  flutes,  or 
gipsy  music,  singing  and  making  merry. 

Prelo  and  Selo. — The  Prelo  and  the  Selo  .ire  two 
occasions  of  reunion  when  the  villagers,  men,  women. 
girls,  and  boys  foregather  at  the  house  of  <>ne  of  them 
to  work  in  one  way  or  another,  and  afterward  sit 
around  the  lire  with  distaff,  wool-carders,  or  needle- 
work, amusing  themselves  meanwhile  with  the  telling 
of  old  tales,  singing,  and  reciting.  A  short  story  by 
Janko  Veselinovich,  a  writer  who  depicts  most  truth- 
fully the  Servian  village  life,  gives  a  homely,  charming 
picture  of  such  a  gathering  and  shows  the  etiquette 
that  rules  on  such  occasions.  In  the  centre  is  the 
great  fire  of  logs  over  which  a  large  pot  of  green, 
sweet  corn  hangs  boiling  for  the  evening's  cheer,  and 
higher  up  the  hams  and  bacon,  beef  sides  or  sheep 
flesh  are  suspended  to  smoke. 

In  a  ring  nearest  the  fire  are  the  young  girls  behav- 
ing themselves  with  exemplary  silence  and  modesty 
in  the  presence  of  their  elders,  communicating  with 
each  other  only  with  eyes  and  in  whispers,  and  gig- 
gling low  among  themselves;  back  of  them  are 
ranged  the  young  married  women,  work  in  hand, 
chattering  and  amusing  themselves,  together  with 
the  oldest   of   the  women  who   form   still   another 


CUSTOMS   AND   TRADITIONS  79 

outside  ring.  Filling  the  room  back  of  these  ranges 
of  women-folk  are  the  men  and  boys.  The  conversa- 
tion is  general,  the  girls  in  front  joining  in  the  talk 
of  their  elders  only  when  directly  addressed.  One  of 
the  boys  is  asked  to  repeat  a  ballad  or  read  from 
a  book  which  he  has  brought  in  his  pocket;  then 
they  listen  to  one  of  the  oldest  women  tell  tales  of 
days  when  she  was  young.  Some  of  the  men  tell  a 
story  or  an  experience;  then  the  girls  are  asked  to 
sing,  which  sets  them  in  a  flutter  of  modesty  and  de- 
light, that  is,  they  are  shy  at  being  brought  forward 
yet  enchanted  to  respond. 

Finally,  the  party  breaks  up;  the  visitors  from 
other  villages  take  leave  more  ceremoniously,  the 
older  ones  glad  to  go  to  bed.  There  is  a  general 
wishing  of  "good  night,"  a  moment  where  all  the 
company  mix  freely  together,  young  and  old.  Dur- 
ing that  brief  confusion  a  young  man  from  a  distant 
village  finds  a  chance  to  whisper  to  one  of  the  girls, 
"Come  an  instant  into  the  garden!  I  want  to  tell  you 
something!"  She  turns  red  and  says  under  breath, 
"I  cannot!"  He  says,  "You  must!"  "No,  I—" 
"  Yes,  yes,"  he  says,  and  >natehingthe  thread  from  the 
spindle  he  darts  outside.  She  flies  after  him  with  the 
end  of  the  thread,  saying:  "Give  me  my  spindle! 
What  have  you  done  ?  What  will  they  think  ? "  As  he 
puts  the  spindle  in  her  hand  he  shuts  his  own  tight 
over  it.  "You  must  listen!  I  love  you — no  one  but 
you !  They  want  to  make  a  marriage  for  me  with  some 
one  else,  but  it  is  you  I  want.  I  feel  I  shall  die  unless 
they  give  me  you.  My  people  would  be  glad,  too,  I 
know— otherwise  I  shall  die!"     The  girl  half  pulls 


80  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

back,  but  answers  with  low  and  quick  words:  "Yes! 
yes! — I  know! — I  know! — I,  too — I  feel  so  for  you. 
My  parents — they  are  talking  of  marriage  for  me — 
if  they  could  only  think  of  you  they  would  not  ob- 
ject!— but  oh!  I  never  knew  I  could  say  such  things 
to  a  stranger!" 

Tie  draws  her  up  to  him  an  instant  before  she  flics 
back  to  the  others,  and  says:  "Only  think — God  give 
it! — how  it  will  be — when  we  arc  married — and  can 
kiss  each  other!" 

Christmas  ami  Easier.  The  Servians  begin  the 
celebrations  of  Christ's  birthday,  as  do  other  Chris- 
tians, on  Christinas  eve;  they,  too.  have  a  custom 
concerned  with  the  Yule-log.  Christmas  eve  is 
called  "Badnyi  dan."  On  that  day  some  young  men 
go  at  early  dawn  into  the  forest;  there  they  offer  a 
piayer,  and  when  they  have  chosen  the  tree  they  wish 
it  "Merry  Christmas  eve,"  or  rather,  as  they  say, 
"Happy  Badnyi  dan."  Casting  a  handful  of  wheat 
against  it,  they  cut  it  down,  letting  it  fall  eastward 
as  the  sun  rises.  The  tree  is  then  cut  into  logs,  large 
and  small,  and  carted  home. 

On  arriving  at  the  house  the  logs  are  set  against 
the  wall  outside;  they  are  called  "Badnyiak."  The 
largest  one,  or  Yule-log,  is  the  subject  of  some  con- 
ventional ceremony.  The  children  sing  carols  through 
the  village.  In  the  evening,  when  all  is  ready  for  the 
Christmas  feast,  the  members  of  the  household  gather 
around  the  great  family  hearth  in  the  central  room  or 
large  kitchen.  The  Domatchina,  wife  of  the  house- 
father, gives  a  pair  of  knitted  gloves  to  the  strongest 
of  the  young  men.     He  puts  them  on  and  goes  out 


CUSTOMS  AND   TRADITIONS  81 

and  brings  in  the  Badnyiak,  or  Yule-log.  As  he 
enters  he  is  showered  with  wheat  and  says:  "Merry 
Christmas  to  all!"  and  is  answered  by  like  greeting 
from  the  others:  "Happy,  holy  Christmas  help  thee!" 
According  to  the  districts,  different  rites  prevail  in 
greeting  the  Yule-log;  some  baptize  it  with  wine  and 
drink  a  toast  in  wine  to  it;  sometimes  it  is  anointed 
with  oil  or  honey,  or  wheat  is  showered  over  it  and 
it  is  placed  on  the  large  fire  so  that  one  end  cannot 
burn. 

Then  takes  place  a  kind  of  game  by  the  mother 
and  the  children,  she  scattering  straw  in  all  the  rooms 
and  imitating  the  cackling  of  a  hen — "chok!  chock!" 
the  children  trotting  alter  her  in  great  glee  and  say- 
ing, "Peep!  peep!"  pretending  to  be  her  little 
chickens. 

A  large  candle  is  stuck  into  a  jar  of  wheat  and  set 
up  high  on  the  <;i^t  side  of  the  room,  the  family 
assemble  before  it,  the  father,  or  Stareshina,  crosses 
himself  and  offers  up  prayers  to  God  for  the  health  and 
prosperity  of  his  family,  and  asks  a  benediction  for 
all  the  creatures  of  the  farm  and  for  the  crops,  that 
they  may  all  flourish  and  yield  their  best.  Then, 
bowing  toward  the  candle,  all  cross  themselves,  and 
the  father  then  turns  to  the  others  and  says:  "God 
hear  our  prayer  and  give  us  health";  they  answer, 
"May  God  give  it,  amen!" 

The  evening  meal  is  taken  without  meat,  but  is 
chiefly  of  nuts,  fruits,  cheese,  vegetables,  cake,  and 
sweetmeats,  and  in  some  places  not  from  a  table  but 
with  every  one  sitting  on  the  floor.  During  the  repast 
the  father  throws  a  nut  into  each  corner  of  the  room, 


82  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

saying:  "In  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Spirit,  amen." 

Christmas  day  is  a  day  of  extraordinary  rejoicings. 
Everybody  is  up  early,  while  it  is  barely  light,  and  the 
coming  day  is  saluted  by  guns  and  pistols  fired  into 
the  air.  This  continual  popping  of  shots  continues 
throughout  the  day,  and  would  recall  to  an  American 
the  gunpowder  celebrations  of  the  "  Glorious  Fourth." 
There  is  a  great  to-do  putting  the  suckling  pig  on  the 
fire  to  roast.  Before  sunrise  a  girl  goes  to  bring  the 
day's  first  water  from  the  spring  or  stream,  which 
she  salutes  with  Christmas  wishes  and  baptises  with 
a  handful  of  wheat;  with  that  water  the  Christmas 
cake  is  made.  A  coin  is  put  into  the  cake,  which 
brings  good  luck  to  the  one  getting  the  piece  that  con- 
tains it,  like  the  "gateau  des  rois"  in  France. 

An  essential  part  of  the  traditionary  ceremony  is 
the  coming  of  the  "Polaznik" — literally  the  "comer," 
who  is  a  young  boy  of  a  neighbouring  village.  No 
"comer,"  however  privileged,  must  enter  the  house 
before  him.  He  arrives  at  an  early  hour,  and  as  the 
door  is  opened  to  him  he  cries  out,  "Christ  is  born!" 
— (Christos  se  rodi)  and  throws  wheat  over  the  whole 
room,  over  the  persons,  and  toward  all  the  four  corners. 
The  mother,  or  Domatchina,  throws  wheat  back  over 
him,  and  every  one  present  answers,  "He  is  born  in 
truth." 

The  Polaznik  then  goes  to  the  hearth  and  with  the 
shovel  strikes  streams  of  sparks  from  the  Badnyiak, 
and  says:  "May  you  have  this  year  thus  many  cattle, 
horses,  oxen,  hogs,  sheep,  your  hives  full  of  honey, 
good  luck,  prosperity,  all  good  and  joy."    The  house- 


CUSTOMS   AND   TRADITIONS  83 

father  then  embraces  and  kisses  the  boy,  who  pros- 
trates himself  before  the  hearth,  touches  the  unburnt 
end  of  the  Badnyiak  with  his  lips,  and  places  a  coin 
upon  it.  The  ceremony  after  this  depends  on  the 
particular  district  and  the  special  calling  of  the  in- 
habitants, but  forms  are  gone  through  symbolic  of 
the  good  fortune  that  is  desired  for  the  persons  pres- 
ent, whether  tillers  of  the  soil  or  raisers  of  cattle  or 
workers  at  some  cottage  craft.  Presents  are  offered 
to  the  Polaznik  who  is  a  cherished  guest  for  the  day. 
Finally,  before  sitting  down  to  the  great  Christmas 
dinner,  the  members  of  the  household  all  stand  with 
lighted  candles  around  the  master  of  the  house,  while 
he  prays,  asking  aloud  blessings  according  to  their 
needs,  and  speaking  in  praise  of  the  Holy  Trinity 
and  Christ.  A  sacred  song  is  sung,  then  all  the  per- 
sons kiss  each  other,  saying:  "The  peace  of  God  be 
I ><  tween  us.  Christ  is  born.  Let  us  bow  before 
Christ  and  his  Nativity!" 

Then  comes  the  feast,  beginning  with  a  toast  to 
"The  glory  of  Christ  the  Lord."  When  the  dinner  is 
about  over  they  all  rise  and  drink  to  "The  glory  of 
God  and  to  the  glory  of  Christ's  birth." 

Easter. — Easter  is  kept  much  as  it  is  in  other  Chris- 
tian lands.  The  fasting  of  Lent  is  very  strictly  kept, 
and  a  mass  is  celebrated  in  the  church  at  midnight. 
The  priest  comes  forward  at  a  certain  moment  after 
midnight  and  says  in  a  loud  voice:  "Christos  vos- 
kress!"  ("Christ  is  risen!")  The  people  answer: 
"  Vaistinye,  amen ! "  ("He  is  in  truth ! ")  Easter  day 
and  during  the  first  three  days  of  Easter  week  the 
form  of  greeting,  instead  of  being  "good  day"  ("dobar 


84  THE   SERVIAN    PEOPLE 

dan"),  is  "Christos  voskress,"  the  other  persons  an- 
swering according  to  the  formula.  Easter  eggs  are 
used  as  in  other  lands,  coloured  gaily;  presents  are 
given;  there  is  open  house  and  strangers  or  wayfarers 
are  welcomed.  The  dead  are  qoI  forgotten;  some 
eggs  coloured  black  are  carried  to  the  graves  and  left 
there  in  token  of  the  resurrection  day. 

Music,  Song,  Dance.  In  times  of  comparative 
peace  the  Servian  home  life  developed  rapidly  the 
comfort  and  well-being  of  the  people.  Protected  by 
the  Zadruga  principle  of  co-operation  and  united 
resources,  the  houses  which  had  been  burnt  and  the 
fields  which  had  been  devastated,  by  Byzantine  or 
Turkish  soldiers,  were  soon  rebuilt  and  replenished. 
The  willing  hands  of  every  member,  male  and  female, 
wrought  to  re-establish  the  community  home  with 
the  maximum  of  comfort  and  security  that  could  pos- 
sibly, under  any  circumstances,  have  been  produced 
by  the  number  of  persons  composing  the  Zadruga. 
It  was  often  found  necessary  to  abandon  the  wreck- 
age of  the  old  village,  to  seek  a  new  site,  or  to  go  to 
another,  sometimes  distant,  part  of  the  country. 
There,  working  all  together,  by  degrees,  new  walls 
were  set  up,  new  fields  ploughed  and  planted,  and  by 
and  by  new  granaries  built.  The  women  spun  and 
wove  fresh  stores  of  clothing,  new  household  linen, 
new  rugs  and  Tchelim  hangings,  and  so  those  who  had 
been  driven  into  the  wilds  by  fire  and  sword  remade 
their  homes. 

Wholesale  destruction  from  hunger  and  exposure 
was,  by  these  methods  of  meeting  calamity,  staved 
off  and  avoided.     Bodily  necessity  was  always  met 


CUSTOMS  AND   TRADITIONS  85 

practically,  and  in  course  of  time  more  or  less  well 
provided  for. 

So  the  Servian  songs,  ballads,  and  epics  treat  less  of 
the  miseries  of  hunger  and  cold  than  of  the  heart's 
anguish  for  dear  ones  gone  to  battle  or  those  killed 
in  the  fight;  or  of  the  soldier's  return  to  find  his 
home  nothing  but  charred  walls,  his  wife  carried  off 
captive,  his  little  ones  killed  or  taken  away  into  sla- 
very, his  mother  having  been  trampled  under  the 
hoofs  of  the  enemj  's  horses. 

The  remembrance  of  such  fearsome  happenings 
was  put  into  rhythmic  verse  by  men  and  by  women, 
and  chanted  to  the  mournful  sound  of  the  Gouzla. 
Courage  and  strength  and  fearlessness,  the  yearning 
to  be  free,  loyalty  to  the  blood  in  the  veins,  faith  in 
a  jusl  and  Holy  God  above  all,  who  would  help  and 
save  the  few  in  the  day  of  their  defence  against  the 
merciless  hosts  of  t lit*  spoiler;  hatred  of  falseness  and 
treachery;  tin-  proud  tale  of  loyalty  unto  death  and 
through  death  in  the  old  ballads  and  songs  all  of 
these  heart-strainings  give  forth  their  music,  plaintive 
or  passionate,  scornful  or  grand.  Echoes  of  noble 
days  and  hi"h  achievement  vibrate  in  those  ballads 
which  recount  the  tales  of  dead  kings — not  dead  in 
Servian  hearts.  Full  of  powerful  depicting  and 
mournful  grandeur,  of  sweet,  solemn  cadence  and 
plaint,  are  the  epics.  They  tell  of  the  mediaeval  Ser- 
vian empire  and  its  dawning  glories;  of  days  of 
Servian  grandeur;  of  the  battle  of  Kossovo  (June  15, 
1389),  where  the  horses  of  the  Turkish  hosts  stood  so 
packed  together  that  "not  a  drop  of  rain  could  have 
fallen  to  the  earth  between  them,"  their  lances  a  quiv- 


86  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

ering  sheet  of  "flame  in  the  summer  sun,  their  many- 
coloured  silken  banners  fluttering  like  far-stretching 
fields  of  bright  tulips,"  and  on  the  Servian  side, 
horsemen  hastening  across  hills  from  every  quarter, 
the  gathering  of  heroes  to  Tzar  Lazar;  their  kneeling 
at  sunrise  before  his  wide  silken  tent  to  take  the  Holy 
Communion;  the  onrush  of  the  countless  Turkish 
foe;  the  terrific  clash  and  fury  of  battle;  the  fierce  and 
stubborn  contest  between  Christian  and  Turk;  at  one 
moment  the  stain  of  treachery;  deeds  of  sublime 
courage  and  skill  on  both  sides;  then  the  slaying  of 
the  Ottoman  Sultan  by  the  hand  of  a  Servian  hero 
self-immolated;  the  beautiful  Militza,  Empress  of 
Tzar  Lazar,  leaning  from  her  window  in  the  white 
tower  of  Krushevatz,  where  two  black  ravens  fly  to 
bring  her  news  of  Kossovo;  how  the  "Noble  Tzar" 
has  been  stricken  low  "on  that  part  of  the  field  where 
all  the  flower  of  Servian  heroes  lie  in  slain  heaps," 
and  the  great  Servian  empire  is  fallen,  its  glory  de- 
parted— as  when  the  sun  sinks  from  the  horizon. 

From  that  sad  time,  through  all  the  dark  and 
gruesome  years  of  ceaseless,  undaunted  resistance  to 
the  Turk,  who,  even  after  Kossovo,  was  compelled  to 
fight  for  Servian  soil  inch  by  inch,  and  could  not 
enter  as  conqueror  without  still  a  hundred  years  and 
more  of  continual  warfare — even  then,  was  never  en- 
tirely master  of  the  land — the  Servian  women  and  men 
chanted  the  remembrance  of  their  national  wroes  in 
rhythmic  verse,  kept  green  and  ever  living  the 
thought  of  departed  Servian  glory.  From  those  songs 
and  epic  poems  sprouted  new  hope,  and  through  long 
centuries  of  Turkish  oppression  that  hope,  and  the 


CUSTOMS  AND   TRADITIONS  87 

certain  faith  that  his  race  and  nation  must  survive 
and   finally   reconquer   its   lost   freedom,   has   never 
ceased  to  be  to  the  Servian  the  fixed  star  of  his  soul. 
This   longing   for   freedom   and   looking   forward 
confidently  to  the  hour  of   its  attainment  run  like 
a  leit-motif  through  all  the  cycles  of  song  and  ballad 
up  to  our  own  time;  in  the  Servian  lands,  which  are 
still  in  thrall,  such  songs  are  made  and  sung  to-day. 
Though  in  Austria-Hungary  they  are  forbidden  un- 
der   heavy    pain,    the    mothers    still   murmur   them 
low  in  the  ears  of  their  babes.      It  seems   strange 
that  the  Servians,  freighted  with  such  burden,  and 
whose  hope  must  look  so  far  ahead — it  has  waited 
through  centuries — can  yet  show  so  much  capacity  for 
the   hearty   enjoyment   of  simple   pleasures.     They 
make  a  curious  picture,  these  reunions  of  which  there 
are  so  many,  always  beginning  with  prayer  to  God 
for  safety  and  help;  and  after  that,  as  if  all  serious 
matters   were  thereby   put   in   safe-keeping,  there  is 
the  whole-hearted  giving  of  themselves  up  to  "having 
a  good  time/'  if  one  may  so  express  it.     The  table  is 
spread,  and  afterward  dance  and  song,  reciting  of 
ballads  or  tales.     Whatever  wrestling  or  other  games 
or  contests  of  strength  there  may  be  among  the  boys 
and  young  men,  there  is  always  sure  to  be  continual 
dancing  and  song.     The  Kolo,  which  in  some  form 
is  the  usual  dance,  is  as  "old  as  the  hills." 

It  is  danced  to  music  of  flutes,  single  flutes  or 
double,  and  bagpipes,  or  gipsy  music  with  violins. 
In  other  days  the  dancers  sang  as  they  danced.  Some 
dances  are  still  sung.  In  the  Kolo  the  girls  and 
boys,  men  and  women  form  a  line  and  take  hands, 


88  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

or  rest  a  hand  on  each  neighbour's  shoulder  or  hold 
by  the  belt;  in  a  long  chain  they  circle,  stepping  in 
rhythmic  unison,  now  this  way,  now  that,  or  running 
forward  and  back.  If  in  the  forest,  they  circle  around 
and  among  the  trees;  and  even  when  in  a  more  re- 
stricted scene,  they  move  the  whole  line  in  one  direction 
or  another,  according  to  fancy  or  the  skill  of  the  lead- 
ers. Each  region  has  its  own  interpretation  of  the 
Kolo,  and  its  own  dances.  In  Montenegro  and  Old 
Servia  there  is  a  Kolo  sword  dance  to  wild  and  mar- 
tial strains.  It  is  sometimes  partly  sung  and  recited, 
with  rhythmic  gesture.  The  Serb  loves  to  sing.  It 
is  customary  for  the  young  Serb  countryman  to  carry 
a  flute  ("svirala"),  or  the  double  flute,  the  "devoynit- 
za,"  in  his  belt  with  his  knife  and  pistol,  and  to  play 
as  he  goes  along,  especially  in  the  evening  or  early 
morning.  To-day  the  Servian  shepherd  plays  his 
pipe  as  they  did  in  "Arcadie"! 

The  villagers  sing  as  they  work,  men  and  women, 
girls  and  boys,  whether  at  home  or  in  the  fields,  and 
their  songs  express  the  feelings  of  their  heart  at  the 
time  being.  The  women  especially  constantly  com- 
pose new  melodies,  or,  rather,  they  invent  them  spon- 
taneously to  suit  their  mood  or  fancy.  Each  district 
has  its  songs  as  it  has  its  dances. 

In  addition  to  the  bagpipes,  used  most  often  in  the 
eastern  part  of  Servia,  and  the  flutes  and  double  flutes 
and  the  Gouzla,  dedicated  to  the  accompaniment  of 
chanted  ballads  and  epic  verse,  the  Serbs  of  Bosnia, 
and  those  near  the  Bosnian  side  of  Servia,  draw 
sweet  tones  from  a  kind  of  lute  with  metal  strings. 
To  its  accompaniment  they  sing  the  slow  and  plain- 


CUSTOMS  AND  TRADITIONS  89 

tive  love  songs,  and  use  it  for  poetic  rhapsody.  It  is 
called  "Tambura."  It  is  widely  used  and  has  given 
its  name  to  many  musical  societies  and  singing  clubs, 
called  "Tamburashi,"  among  the  young  folks. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  "song  and  dance,"  it 
is  interesting  to  note  the  custom  of  dancing  and  sing- 
ing around  the  church.  The  Servians  (Orthodox) 
do  not  regard  their  church  or  priesthood  with  any 
superstitious  awe,  though  they  would  die  for  their 
church,  which  is  the  sacred  guferdian  of  their  national 
faith.  From  her  they  ask  consecrations  of  their  acts, 
whether  relating  to  the  individual,  family,  or  to  na- 
tional affairs.  As  to  prayer,  that  is  mostly  a  home 
affair,  a  matter  of  course,  like  daily  bread,  as  is  seen 
in  the  many  daily  invocations. 

The  Serbs  are  at  home  with  their  church  as  they 
are  with  nature.  On  great  feast  days  the  villagers 
gather  around  the  outside  of  the  church  where  service 
is  held,  and  there  they  dance  and  sing  songs  of  the 
occasion.  So  they  gather  there  if-  some  important 
national  movement  or  insurrection  is  to  be  set  on  foot. 

The  ceremonial  music  of  the  Servian,  as  of  all 
Orthodox  churches,  is  beautiful  and  impressive.  It 
is  sung  by  voices  alone,  unaccompanied  by  any  instru- 
ment. It  is  based  on  the  music,  probably  Greek,  that 
was  used  with  the  earliest  Greek  ritual.  It  is  said 
that  the  Servian  priests  of  Mount  Athos  (Hilendar 
Monastery)  began  as  early  as  the  tenth  and  eleventh 
centuries  to  add  to  that  music.  The  natural  ten- 
dency of  the  Servians  to  give  musical  expression  to 
their  sentiments,  or  to  the  emotions  which  stir  them 
deeply,  has   led   to  a  Servianising  of  the  music  of 


90  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

their  church.  In  the  same  spirit  they  use  their  own 
language  in  the  services,  and  they  have  modified  the 
ritual  to  their  needs,  until  the  Servian  churches  came 
early  to  be  to  the  nation  what  the  central  hearth-fire  is 
to  the  home. 

One  hearing  this  Servian  church  music  for  the 
first  time  cannot  but  experience  a  strange  thrill.  The 
singers  are  hidden  from  view.  At  first  it  seems  un- 
believable that  the  music  proceeds  from  human 
voices  alone.  The  sounds  are  there  of  deep  and  vi- 
brating 'cellos,  and  of  the  sweetly  drawn  chords  of  fine 
violins,  and  columns  of  sound  as  from  an  organ.  The 
mind  is  held  in  an  impression  of  the  voices  and  cries 
of  all  life.  The  whole  utterance  of  the  human  soul 
is  there,  a  striving  between  the  earthly  and  the  heav- 
enly man,  in  its  most  primitive  as  well  as  in  its  most 
solemn  and  sublime  expression.  This  music  is  not 
as  something  listened  to  of  which  one  would  say, 
"That  was  well  done,"  but  this  music  of  the  Servian 
church  is  as  the  mighty  moving  of  forces  which  sud- 
denly embody  the  whole  inner  life  and  lift  it  toward 
God  in  the  spirit  of  worship. 


PAR  T    II 
THE    SERVIAN    LANDS    TO-DAY 


CHAPTER   II 
GEOGRAPHICAL   FEATURES 

THE  block  of  territory  forming  the  north-western 
and  central  parts  of  the  Balkan  Peninsula,  of 
which  the  population  is  Servian,  speaking  the  Servian 
tongue,  is  politically  divided  into:  The  independent 
Kingdom  of  Servia  and  the  Principality  of  Montene- 
gro; the  Austro-Hungarian  province  of  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovina;  the  Austrian  province  of  Dalmatia 
with  part  of  Istria;  the  Hungarian  provinces  of 
Croatia-Slavonia,  Banat,  and  Batchka;  and  the  Turk- 
ish province  of  Old  Servia— i.  e.,  Vilayet  of  Kossovo, 
Sandjak  of  Novi  Bazar,  parts  of  the  Vilayets  of 
Monastir  and  of  Salonika. 

This  large  area  is  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  east- 
ern shores  of  the  Adriatic  Sea  from  near  Trieste  to 
Antibari  opposite  the  Italian  Bari.  The  boundary  on 
the  north  is  the  uncertainly  defined  line  which  coin- 
cides with  the  political  line  dividing  Croatia  from  the 
Austrian  provinces  of  Carniolia  and  Styria,  up  to  the 
river  Mur,  thence  following  eastward  the  river  Mur 
to  its  confluence  with  the  river  Drava,  and  along  the 
Drava  to  the  point  where  it  pours  into  the  Danube, 
thence  on  easterly  in  a  straight  line  up  to  the  western 
spurs  of  the  Transylvanian  Ore  Mountains.  The 
eastern  border  starting  at  that  point  descends  to  and 
crosses  the  Danube,  and  proceeds  thence  southward 

93 


94  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

along  the  border  between  Bulgaria  and  Servia,  to  the 
head-waters  of  the  Struma,  and  along  the  Struma  to 
Seres,  in  Macedonia,  at  that  point  striking  the  south- 
ern boundary  which  forms  an  uncertainly  defined  line 
due  west  to  the  Albanian  eastern  border.  From  there 
a  line  must  be  drawn  to  the  Black  Drin  River  due 
north  in  order  to  proceed  again  westward  with  the 
southern  boundary  line  of  this  great  block  of  Serb- 
inhabited  territory  through  Skutari  Lake  to  Dulcigno 
and  Antivari,  on  the  Adriatic  Sea,  called  at  that  point 
the  Servian  Sea. 

This  Serb  territory  covers  an  approximate  area  of 
100,000  square  miles. 

The  vast  and  complicated  mountain  formations  of 
the  area  belong  to  five  different  systems:  The  Dinaric 
in  the  north-west,  the  Albanian  in  the  west  and  south, 
the  Carpathians  in  the  north-east,  the  Balkans  in  the 
east,  and  the  Rhodope  in  the  south-east.  All  of  these 
vast  mountain  systems,  with  their  multiple  ranges, 
trend  generally  toward  the  central  region  of  this 
Servian-inhabited  block  of  territory,  where  they  knot 
themselves  together,  forming  the  great  watershed  of 
the  peninsula,  and  presenting  between  the  inacces- 
sible heights  of  the  mountain  ranges,  precipitous 
gorges,  deeply  cut  valleys,  and  high  plateaux. 

The  eastern  and  western  masses  are  so  disposed  as 
to  form,  between  long  stretches  of  ranges  narrowly 
parallel  with  each  other,  the  two  great  natural  roads 
of  the  Balkan  Peninsula.  One  of  these  two  great 
natural  highways  from  the  Danube  due  south  forms 
the  valley  of  the  Morava  River,  in  Servia,  and  its  con- 


GEOGRAPHICAL  FEATURES  95 

tinuation  across  the  low  watershed  of  Preshevo  to 
the  valley  of  the  Vardar  River,  in  Turkey,  and  that 
river's  course  to  the  iEgean  Sea  near  Salonika.  This 
longitudinal  valley  from  the  Danube  due  north  and 
south  to  the  .Egean  Sea  forms  in  southern  Servia  the 
basin  of  Nish,  whence  starts  the  other  great  natural 
Balkan  road  leading  from  that  point  to  Constantinople 
between  the  parallel  ranges  of  the  Balkan  Mountains 
and  the  Rhodope  ranges  which  lie  east  and  west. 
Through  this  valley  flows  the  Maritza  River.  This 
great  branching  highway,  opening  passage  across  the 
entire  Balkan  Peninsula  north  to  south,  and  from  its 
fork  at  Nish  throughout  the  whole  length  eastward, 
forms  the  valleys  of  the  three  most  important  rivers 
south  of  the  Danube;  they  are  not  the  results  of  ero- 
sion, but  are  a  succession  of  natural  narrow  plains 
between  mountain  ranges  whose  slopes  continually 
feed  these  rivers  and  their  tributaries  with  their 
springs  and  generous  drainage  of  rainfall  and  snow. 

1.    RIVER    SYSTEMS 

The  three  river  systems  of  the  Serb  Block  are  the 
Northern,  whose  rivers,  as  tributaries  of  the  Danube, 
drain  into  the  Black  Sea ;  the  AYestern,  draining  into 
the  Adriatic;  and  the  Southern,  whose  waters  fall 
into  the  zEgean. 

The  rivers  of  the  Northern  system  flowing  into  the 
Danube  from  south  to  north  are  the  Timok,  on  the 
eastern  border,  with  its  tributaries;  the  Mlava;  the 
Morava,  through  the  heart  of  Servia,  formed  by  the 
junction  of  the  two  Moravas  and  their  rich  network 
of   tributaries;   the  western  Morava,  with   its  great 


96  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

tributaries  the  I  bar  and  the  Rasina  and  the  Binatchka 
Morava  joined  by  the  Toplitza  and  Nisheva— all, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Nisheva,  rising  in  Old 
Servia  and  flowing  north-easterly  or  north-westerly. 

The  rivers  of  this  system  whose  course  is  from 
west  to  east  are  the  Drava,  from  its  junction  with  the 
Mur  near  the  point  where  it  enters  Croatian  territory ; 
the  Sava,  from  the  same  direction,  with  its  tributaries; 
the  Kulpa  west  to  east,  and  those  which  join  it  flow- 
ing from  south  to  north,  the  Unna  and  Sanna;  the 
Vrbas;  the  Drina  with  its  tributaries,  the  Piva,  the 
Tara,  and  the  Lim,  all  three  of  which,  with  its  own 
head-waters,  rise  in  the  Brdas  of  Montenegro.  These 
rivers,  with  the  small  Kolubara  River,  in  Servia,  com- 
prise the  Danubian  or  Northern  river  system. 

The  Western  system  includes  all  those  rivers, 
mostly  coastal  streams,  draining  westerly  or  south- 
westerly into  the  Adriatic.  These  rivers,  if  named  in 
succession,  beginning  from  Istria  and  Croatia  in  the 
north  to  the  limits  of  Montenegro  in  the  south,  are: 
the  Quieto  and  Arsa,  in  Istria;  the  Zermanya,  rising  in 
Croatia;  the  Kerka;  the  Cikota;  the  Cetina,  rising  in 
Dalmatia;  the  Neretva,  which  is  the  most  important 
river  of  the  eastern  Adriatic  seaboard,  rising  in  Herze- 
govina; the  Ombla  estuary,  near  Ragusa;  and,  at  the 
most  southern  point  of  the  Serb  Block,  on  the  Adriatic 
coast  at  the  southern  border  of  Montenegro,  the  river 
Boyana,  which  is  an  immense  volume  of  water  issuing 
from  the  southern  extremity  of  the  lake  of  Skutari 
(Skodra),  at  which  point  it  receives  also  the  waters  of 
the  river  Drin.  The  lake  of  Skodra  is  formed  by  the 
waters  of  the  southern  Montenegrin  rivers  the  Morat- 


RIVER   SYSTEMS  97 

cha  and  the  Zeta,  and  the  numerous  small  streams 
comprising  the  drainage  of  the  southern  Montenegrin 
mountains  and  the  northern  Albanian  Alps.  The 
Drin  belongs  entirely  to  Albania,  but  its  tributaries, 
the  Black  Drin  and  the  White  Drin,  rise  in  the  Ser- 
vian Block.  The  Southern  river  system  draining 
southward  into  the  iEgean  Sea  is  made  up  of  the  head- 
waters and  part  of  the  course  of  the  Vardar  River  and 
that  section  of  the  river  Struma  which  is  included  in 
the  south-eastern  border  of  the  Servian  Block. 

The  rivers  of  the  eastern  Adriatic  seaboard  in  gen- 
eral are  marked  by  peculiar  characteristics  resulting 
from  the  curious  nature  of  the  bleak  limestone  moun- 
tain formations  of  the  Carsts.  The  Kerka  and  Cetina, 
in  Dalmatia,  are  far  famed  for  their  cataracts,  the 
river  bed  of  the  Kerka  along  almost  its  entire  course 
being  formed  by  successive,  abrupt  changes  in  level, 
forming  a  series  of  stairs.  Near  this  river  and  the 
Ombla,  which  gushes  suddenly  in  great  volume  out 
of  a  rocky  mountain  side  after  a  mysterious  sub- 
terranean course,  are  many  caverns  and  grottoes. 
One  of  the  wonders  of  the  Carst  region  is  the  disap- 
pearing rivers,  of  which  there  are  many.  After  a 
short  ordinary  course  the  waters  suddenly  sink 
from  view  in  a  self-formed  clear  pool  clean  of  all 
morass,  or  they  seep  from  sight  through  sand  and 
boulders,  or  sometimes  their  waters  are  swallowed  up 
suddenly  in  a  cavern.  After  following  a  hidden 
underground  way  for  some  distance  they  as  unex- 
pectedly burst  forth  from  rocks  or  caverns  to  flow  for 
a  while  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  again  repeating 
their  descent  into  regions  of  night  and  their  sudden 


98  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

gushing  once  more  from  their  unknown  channels, 
crystal  pure  into  the  sunlight.  Of  these  rivers  are: 
the  Buna,  the  tributary  of  the  Neretva;  the  Zalomnska 
reka  which,  rising  naturally  near  Foinitza,  is  lost  on 
the  Nevesinsko  Polye,  never  to  reappear  so  far  as  can 
be  judged;  the  Bregova,  issuing  in  full  force  near 
Stolatz  to  flow  into  the  Neretva. 

The  most  remarkable  of  all  these  rivers  is  the 
Trebinytchitza.  It  is  supposed  that  its  first  appear- 
ance is  the  river  Moushitza,  whose  head-waters  are  in 
the  mountains  about  Gatchko  Polye.  After  almost 
encircling  that  plain,  which  it  irrigates,  it  sinks  from 
sight  at  the  foot  of  the  Vidosh  mountain  through  the 
bottom  of  a  small  pool  at  the  altitude  of  936  metres. 
At  a  distance  of  about  20  miles  due  south,  near  Biletch, 
at  an  altitude  of  350  metres,  the  Trebinytchitza 
bursts  into  sight  from  the  rocky  walls  of  the  valley 
forming  a  river  of  a  volume  navigable  for  rowing 
boats.  It  flows  some  distance  southward,  then  bend- 
ing northward  and  rounding  the  entire  Gliva  Planina, 
in  all  about  50  miles,  the  Trebinytchitza  suddenly 
drops  from  sight  among  boulders  and  rocks.  It  is 
supposed  that  in  its  hidden  channels  it  doubles  like  a 
hare  upon  its  own  surface  course,  flowing  south- 
easterly for  20  miles;  then,  having  wended  its  laby- 
rinthine way  along  the  western  slopes  of  the  coastal 
Planina,  it  breaks  open  for  itself  a  rocky  gate  of 
issuance  not  two  miles  from  the  sea's  edge;  there, 
under  the  name  of  the  Ombla,  so  broad  and  deep 
that  it  anchors  steamships,  it  finally  throws  its  wa- 
ters into  the  Adriatic  Sea,  forming  the  harbour  of 
Gravosa. 


MOUNTAIN   SYSTEMS  99 

The  general  characteristic  of  all  the  rivers  belonging 
to  the  three  great  river  systems  of  the  Serb  Block,  the 
Northern,  Western,  and  Southern,  are  steep  and  high 
banks.  With  the  exception  of  the  two  great  natural 
valleys  of  the  Morava-Vardar  and  the  Maritza,  lying 
between  parallel  ranges,  all  of  these  rivers  are  char- 
acterised by  deep-cut  valleys,  and  in  Herzegovina, 
Montenegro,  and  Old  Servia  they  are  often  hewn 
through  solid  rock,  forming  wild  canons. 

At  certain  points,  where  the  banks  are  low  and  the 
subsoil  impervious,  there  is  much  swamp-land.  The 
largest  of  these  swamps  are  at  different  parts  of  the 
Sava  River,  the  delta  of  the  Neretva  River,  and  on  the 
shores  of  the  lake  of  Scutari.  The  deep  valleys  walled 
in  by  mountain  steeps  through  which  there  is  insuffi- 
cient escape  sometimes  cause  the  waters  to  dam  up 
and  become  sinks  where  streams  disappear  in  mo- 
rasses. These  places  are  called  "blat  os."  Other  valleys 
of  similar  character  but  with  impervious  beds  form 
healthy  lakes  of  good  water.  Indeed,  the  water  of 
mountain  springs,  streams,  and  rivers  everywhere 
throughout  these  lands,  except  in  swampy  places,  is 
noted  for  being  good  to  drink,  and  delicious,  often 
possessing  curative  or  healing  properties. 

2.    MOUNTAIN    SYSTEMS,    THEIR    FLORA    AND 
THEIR    FAUNA 

The  north-western  part  of  the  Serb  Block,  within 
the  triangle  formed  by  the  rivers  Drava,  Sava,  and 
Danube,  is  penetrated  by  a  long  spur  of  the  south- 
eastern Alps.  These  long  Alpine  spurs  diminish  in 
altitude  as  they  reach  out  eastward  and  are  framed 


100  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

by  the  plains  of  those  rivers.  These  ranges  are  219 
miles  long,  and  where  they  enter  Croatia  from  the 
west  they  form  the  mountain  groups  of  the  Uskoks, 
3,818  feet  in  altitude,  and  the  Matzel  range  on  the 
borders  of  Styria,  2,015  feet  in  height.  These  two 
mountain  ranges  are  joined  on  the  south  by  the  Ivan- 
chitza  mountains,  3,468  feet,  and  the  Slyeme,  3,363 
feet,  both  tending  southward.  These  ranges  extend 
toward  the  east  as  the  Kalnik,  2,116  feet,  first,  then 
fall  in  altitude  to  the  low  hills  of  the  Byelo  Vrh,  to 
rise  again  as  the  south-eastern  Slavonian  Mountains, 
whose  highest  peaks  are  the  Tsrny  Vrh,  2,688  feet, 
the  Papouk,  3,100  feet,  and  the  Brezovo  Polye,  3,207 
feet.  The  final  sharp  outcropping  of  these  ranges  is 
the  Vrdnik  or  Frushka  Gora,  1,935  feet,  on  the 
Danube. 

The  Carst  Ranges 

In  the  west,  along  the  coast  line,  in  Istria,  Croatia, 
Dalmatia,  Herzegovina,  and  western  Montenegro, 
the  ranges  belong  to  formations  called  "  Carst"  (place 
of  stones),  long,  rugged  stretches  of  bleak  and  arid 
limestone,  reddish  in  colour  in  Istria  and  southern 
Croatia,  and  ashen  or  steely  gray  in  its  southern  part 
lying  in  Herzegovina,  southern  Dalmatia,  and  Mon- 
tenegro. 

The  dryness  of  this  formation  is  caused  by  the 
porous  nature  of  the  limestone  which  drinks  up  the 
rain  and  drains  it  into  the  deep  underground  channels 
formed  by  impervious  beds  of  sandstone  and  clay. 
The  stony  masses  of  the  Carst  range,  averaging  an 
altitude  of  4,000  feet,  from  which  rise  rocky  peaks 


THE   CARST  RANGES  101 

bare  of  plant  life  and  desolate,  make  a  stern  barrier 
between  the  lovely  coast  line  with  its  bright  vegeta- 
tion, its  flourishing  gardens  and  teeming  fields,  and 
the  interior  central  and  western  lands  of  the  other 
mountain  chains,  with  their  finely  wooded  slopes  and 
their  fertile  valleys  enriched  by  the  alluvial  loam  of 
many  rivers  and  streams.  This  formidable  Carst 
wall  is  sternly  impressive,  with  its  broken  bastions  and 
buttresses,  its  curiously  carved  and  moulded  sculp- 
ture of  winds  and  waters,  sometimes  like  a  huge 
coliseum  or  amphitheatre  with  ranging  rows  of  seats, 
or  shaped  into  suggestions  of  weird  towers  and  tur- 
rets or  cathedral  walls  and  domes,  its  obelisks  and 
separate  shafts  cleft  from  the  main  mass  standing  as 
menacing  sentinels,  its  "glacis"  strewn  with  huge  rocks 
and  boulders,  its  caves  fantastically  roofed  with  sta- 
lactites, often  dark  donjons  of  Nature  inhabited  by  a 
whole  underworld  of  sightless  creatures  of  night  in- 
cluding (according  to  Elisee  Reclus)  "seven  species 
of  reptiles,  eyeless  coleoptera,  arachids,  centipedes, 
crustaceans,  and  molluscs."  "Gates  of  Hell"  the  an- 
cients called  these  caverns ;  then  there  are  those  other 
subterranean  passages  winding  for  miles  upon  miles 
of  unknown  ways  within  the  hidden  foundations, 
carrying  the  pure  and  crystal  waters  of  numerous 
inland  rivers  and  streams  from  western  regions  and 
finally  opening  to  them,  through  its  flood-gates,  egress 
to  the  sea. 

The  precipitous  walls  of  this  bleak,  forbidding 
barrier  rear  their  arid  stony  heights  along  the  entire 
seaboard  of  the  eastern  Adriatic,  from  Styria  to  Scu- 
tari, as  if  inhibiting  all  would-be  invaders  from  the 


102  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

fair  countries  lying  eastward  and  shielded  by  these 
mighty  rockworks  as  by  a  line  of  first  defence,  though 
each  valley  of  those  lands  in  turn  lies  intrenched  in 
its  own  ranges  of  harsh  hills  and  mountains. 

The  altitude  of  the  passes  across  this  high  Carst 
plateau  is  from  2,300  to  4,533  feet.  The  highest 
peaks  of  the  Carst  toward  the  south  are  the  Orien, 
6,174  feet,  the  corner-stone  where  the  boundaries  of 
Montenegro,  Dalmatia,  and  Herzegovina  meet  near 
Cattaro.  In  western  Montenegro  the  Lovtchen  rises 
to  5,726  feet,  the  Nyegosh,  on  the  Banyani  Plateau, 
1,606  feet  high.  The  highest  peaks  toward  the  north 
are  the  Great  Kapella,  5,374  feet,  and  the  beautiful 
Velebit  rising  5,768  feet,  near  the  sea  on  the  borders 
of  Croatia  and  Dalmatia.  The  atmospheric  effects 
of  this  mountain  and  its  surroundings,  viewed  from  a 
distance,  show  gorgeous  tints  and  colouring  ranging 
from  purple  to  deep  rose.  These  effects  of  "Alp  gltihn  " 
are  characteristic  of  the  Carst   in  all  its  length. 

Notwithstanding  the  apparent  absence  of  soil  from 
the  surface  of  this  formation,  which  is  swept  bare  by 
the  winds  and  washed  clean  by  the  rains,  the  Carst  in 
early  spring-time  is  covered  with  sweet  flowers ;  and  in 
crevices  which  have  chanced  to  garner  a  little  soil, 
several  kinds  of  aromatic  plants  and  resinous  shrubs 
find  root,  such  as  juniper,  turpentine  trees,  and  rock- 
roses.  The  flora,  repeating  those  of  Central  Europe 
and  the  Pannonian  plains,  often  includes  as  many  as 
from  fifty  to  sixty  species  within  a  few  square  yards. 
The  flowers  are  of  delightful  fragrance,  but  their 
foliage  is  scant  and  they  are  soon  scorched  in  the 
summer  sun  and  blown  away  by  the  winds. 


THE   DINARIC   SYSTEM  103 

The  Dinaric  System 

Striking  from  the  same  region  as  the  Carst  in  the 
extreme  north-west,  the  Dinaric  Alps  south  of  the 
Kulpa  and  Sava  Rivers  and  west  of  the  Carst  moun- 
tains, from  which  they  differ  radically  in  character, 
stretch  their  many  ranges  and  spurs  in  a  south- 
westerly direction  across  the  main  area  of  the  great 
Serb  Block:  Bosnia,  Servia,  Herzegovina,  eastern 
Montenegro,  and  Old  Servia.  They  lie  for  the  most 
part  in  long,  unbroken  ranges  called  Planinas,  with 
long,  irregular  summit  lines  from  which  rise  sharply 
defined  peaks.  As  in  eastern  Montenegro  and  Old 
Servia  at  some  points  where  they  penetrate  the  Carst 
formations,  they  take  the  forms  of  high  and  rugged 
plateaux.  The  entire  Dinaric  system  in  general  has 
slopes  covered  by  thick  woods,  some  of  which  bear 
the  character  of  virgin  forests  of  great  beauty.  The 
trees  include  fir  and  other  cone-bearers,  beech,  birch, 
ash,  maple,  oak,  and  all  others  belonging  to  the 
Alpine  flora.  Along  the  lower  belts,  in  addition  to 
these,  specimens  of  trees  and  plants  belonging  to  the 
Pontic  or  Black  Sea  flora  are  to  be  found.  In  Bosnia 
the  limit  of  the  tree  belt  lies  at  about  5,200  feet. 
Above  that  altitude  the  vegetation  is  entirely  alpine, 
providing  good  grazing  for  cattle  when  the  snow  melts. 

In  eastern  Montenegro,  where  the  three  systems  of 
Carst,  Dinaric,  and  Albano-Macedonian  Alps  meet 
and  knot  together,  the  trees  up  to  the  2,600-foot  belt 
are  beeches,  oak,  ash,  maple,  birch,  juniper,  lilac, 
and  rhododendron;  above  this  point,  up  to  4,200  feet, 
the  main  woods  are  oak ;   beyond  that  altitude,  up  to 


104  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

the  unmelting  snow,  are  the  firs,  pines,  and  other 
cone-bearers.  In  Servia  and  Old  Servia  the  mountain 
slopes  are  generally  cultivated  up  to  the  1,900-foot 
line;  from  that  line  to  3,500  feet  oaks  predomi- 
nate; above  that,  up  to  5,200  feet,  beeches  predomi- 
nate; and  beyond  that  line  come  the  cone-bearers 
and  juniper-trees.  In  the  lands  these  mountains 
traverse  the  flora  and  characteristics  of  all  these 
different  systems  meet  and  intermingle.  They  are  the 
eastern  Alpine  flora,  most  clearly  defined  in  Bosnia; 
the  Pannonian  flora,  in  central  and  northern  Servia; 
the  Carpathian  and  Balkan  flora,  in  the  eastern  re- 
gions; and  in  the  south  the  flora  of  the  primitive  or 
Macedo-Dardanian  flora. 

The  mountains  of  the  Dinaric  system  receive  a 
heavy  rainfall  and  give  rise  to  great  numbers  of 
springs  and  rivers,  and  are  characterised  by  richly 
productive  valleys  and  slopes.  The  highest  points 
are  the  Trescavitza  Planina,  7,111  feet,  and  the 
Byelasnitza,  6,718  feet,  both  south-west  of  Serayevo, 
in  Bosnia;  also  the  Vranitza;  the  Zee,  6,444  feet; 
the  Lelia,  6,725  feet;  and  the  Maglitch,  rising  from  the 
Volnyinak  chain.  The  south-western  border  of  Servia 
is  formed  by  high  ranges  belonging  to  the  Dinaric 
system;  the  highest  points  are  the  Golya  Planina, 
6,279  feet,  and  the  Kopaonik  mountains,  6,955  feet. 
South  of  the  Kopaonik  are  the  high  plateaux  of  Old 
Servia  rising  in  the  west  to  the  high  Brdas  of  Monte- 
negro, whose  loftiest  altitudes  are  the  Dormitor,  on 
the  plateau  of  the  Chirovo  Petchina,  8,216  feet;  the 
Koutchki  Kom,  8,092  feet;  the  Sto,  7,371  feet;  the 
Gradishte,   7,212   feet;    the   Yablancov   Vrh,   7,159 


THE   SHUMADIA   MOUNTAINS        105 

feet;  and  the  Zhiovo,  6,932  feet.  Numerous  other 
peaks  range  from  4,800  to  6,500  feet  in  height. 
Montenegro  is,  in  fact,  one  vast  complicated  mountain 
mass,  a  true  fortress  of  nature. 

The  Albanian  Ranges 

The  Albanian-Macedonian  system,  running  north 
in  several  chains  from  the  Pindus  and  Olympus 
masses  on  the  Greek  border,  meets  the  Dinaric  and 
Carst  formations  in  eastern  and  southern  Montenegro 
and  penetrates  Old  Servia  in  its  central  and  southern 
regions  by  spurs  called  the  Albanian  Alps,  rising  to 
6,500  feet,  and  the  Shar  Dagh,  8,160  feet,  cut  by  the 
deep  gorges  of  katdianik  Pass  after  which  it  con- 
tinues as  the  Kara  Dagh  with  an  altitude  of  5,850 
feet.  These  mountains  in  the  main  follow  the  char- 
acteristics  of  the  Dinarics,  being  well  covered  with 
forests  and  giving  rise  to  many  springs  and  streams. 

The  Shumadia  Mountains 

These  great  systems  of  the  Dinaric,  the  Carst,  and 
the  Albanian-Macedonian  form  all  the  mountains  of 
the  Serbland  territory  west  of  the  long  valley  of  the 
rivers  Morava  and  Yardar,  with  the  exception  of  the 
group  of  mountains  in  central  Servia  called  the 
Shumadia.  The  Shumadia  is  of  a  soft  crystalline 
formation  on  a  granite  foundation  with  extensive 
hill  lands  of  tertiary  deposit.  It  is  exceedingly  rich 
in  soil,  thickly  wooded,  chiefly  with  oak  and  nut 
trees,  and  produces,  where  under  cultivation,  three 
crops  a  year.  Its  flora  is  entirely  Pannonic.  It  is 
characterised  otherwise  by  deeply  cut  valleys  and  a 


106  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

network  of  streams  and  rivulets  flowing  from  springs 
of  crystal  pure  drinking  water.  The  highest  peak  of 
the  Shumadia  is  the  Veliki  Shtouratz,  3,800  feet  in 
height. 

Carpathians,  Balkans,  and  the  Rhodope  System 

The  mountain  systems  east  of  the  Morava-Vardar 
valley  are  part  of  the  the  Carpathians,  Balkans,  and 
the  Rhodope.  The  Carpathian  Mountains  in  the 
north-eastern  part  of  the  Serb-inhabted  territory  are 
called  the  Banat  Mountains,  up  to  where  they  are 
deeply  cut  by  the  Danube  River  in  the  famous  gorges 
between  Baziash  and  Turnu  Severinu,  called  at  one 
point  the  Iron  Gates.  South  of  the  Danube  they 
form  the  mountains  filling  the  whole  part  of  Servia 
east  of  the  Morava,  where  between  that  river  and  the 
Timok  their  highest  point  is  the  Golyubinye  Planina, 
4,922  feet.  Farther  south  they  join  and  mass  with  the 
Balkans.  At  the  head-waters  of  the  Black  Timok 
their  height  in  the  Rtanye  summit  is  5,096  feet.  The 
formation  of  the  Servian  Carpathians  is  crystalline 
and  paleozoic  schist  broken  by  eruptive  rock.  Their 
slopes  form  one  unbroken  line  of  oak,  chestnut,  and 
beech  trees;   their  flora  is  Carpathian. 

South  of  the  Nishava  River,  to  the  east  of  the 
Morava,  the  Rhodope  Mountains  present  a  purely 
primitive  formation.  In  south-eastern  Servia  the 
Souva  Planina,  whose  highest  summit  is  the  Sokolov 
Kamen  (6,435  feet),  is  a  spur  of  the  Rhodope.  East 
of  the  Vardar,  in  Old  Servia,  the  spurs  of  the  Rhodope 
are  the  Plashkavitza  Planina  and  the  low  Malesh 
Planina  between  the  Vardar  and  the  Struma  Rivers. 


THE   RHODOPE   SYSTEM  107 

Like  all  the  other  systems,  the  Rhodope  are  richly 
wooded,  having  plenteous  water  and  a  productive 
soil.    The  flora  is  Pontian  or  southern. 

The  fauna  of  all  those  mountain  systems  includes 
various  species  of  deer,  bear,  wild  boars,  wolves, 
foxes,  martens,  ermine,  otter,  and  beaver,  which  have 
always  supported  a  considerable  fur  trade  centred 
up  to  about  fifty  years  ago  in  Old  Servia.  The  birds 
include  the  eagle,  the  falcon,  the  hawk,  the  Balkan 
raven,  a  kind  of  black  vulture,  pheasants,  wild 
pigeons  and  doves,  partridges  (called  also  the  stone 
lien),  and  many  wild  wood  birds,  including  the  night- 
ingale. Along  the  numerous  rivers,  springs,  pools, 
and  marshes  are  many  kinds  of  water-fowl,  including 
wild  geese,  ducks,  and  smaller  aquatic  birds;  also 
quantities  of  tortoises  (yellow  and  black),  frogs,  eels, 
etc.  Among  the  fishes  of  the  Danube  is  the  sturgeon; 
trout  and  perch  abound  in  all  the  other  rivers. 

The  larger  plains,  besides  those  of  the  Sava,  low 
and  marshy,  and  the  plain  at  the  mouth  of  the  Morava, 
are  the  productive  plains  north  of  the  Danube  in  the 
Banat  and  Batchka,  the  plains  of  the  Zeta,  in  Mon- 
tenegro, which  surround  the  lake  of  Scutari,  and  many 
small  plains  in  Bosnia  and  Croatia;  in  Old  Servia 
there  are  the  plains  of  the  great  and  little  Kossovo, 
the  Metoya,  and  of  Tetovo.  The  plains  of  Kossovo 
and  Tetovo  were  former  sea  basins.  The  main  part 
of  the  Serb-inhabited  territory  is  rich  in  ores  and 
minerals,  the  richest  regions  in  ore  being  the  eastern 
part  of  Bosnia  and  the  southern,  central,  and  eastern 
parts  of  Servia,  where  were  the  famous  mines  of 
antiquity  and  the  Middle  Ages. 


CHAPTER   III 
INDEPENDENT  SERVIAN   LANDS 


T 


THE    KINGDOM    OF    SERVIA    (SRBIYA) 

^HE  Kingdom  of  Servia 
separated  on  the  north 
from  the  Serbs  of  southern 
Hungary    by    the    Danube 
River,  and  touching  Bulgaria 
on  its  eastern  border,  occu- 
pies the  central  and  greater 
section  of  the  eastern  half  of 
the     Serb-inhabited     block 
whose  eastern  border  it  forms 
south  of  the  Danube  down  to 
the  limits  of  Old  Servia  on  the  South.    On  the  west  it 
borders   Bosnia-Herzegovina.     The    area   is    18,650 
square  miles. 

Population. — The  population  in  1906  was  2,717,221, 
of  which  2,692,000  were  Servians  and  of  the  remain- 
ing, foreign,  16,267  were  Austro-Hungarian  subjects 
(mostly  of  Serb  race);  and  5,909  Turkish  subjects 
(Serbs  from  Macedonia). 

There  are  1,407  communes,  with  4,267  villages 
and  85  towns. 

The  largest  towns  are: 

Belgrade,  77,816;  Nish,  21,946;  Kragouyevatz, 
15,596;  Leskovatz,  13,647;  Pozharevatz,  12,162; 
Shabatz,  12,151;  Vranya,  11,375;  and  Pirot,  10,000. 

108 


THE   KINGDOM   OF   SERVIA  109 

The  average  yearly  increase  of  births  over  deaths 
is  1.68  per  cent.  There  is  no  emigration  from  Servia 
to  other  countries.  The  Servians  absent  from  their 
country  number  about  1,000  students,  diplomatic  and 
consular  agents,  commercial  representatives,  etc. 

Constitution  and  Government 

Servia  is  a  constitutional  monarchy,  the  crown  being 
hereditary,  according  to  primogeniture,  in  the  male 
posterity  of  King  Peter  I,  Karageorgevich,  elected  by 
the  Greater  National  Assembly,  June  15,  1903. 

The  King  receives  a  civil  list  of  1,200,000  dinars 
($240,000)  yearly. 

The  Constitution,  as  framed  in  1888  and  amended 
in  1903  by  the  National  Assembly,  decrees  to  all  Serbs 
equality  before  the  law,  right  of  public  meeting,  free- 
dom of  conscience,  freedom  of  the  press,  and  the 
right  of  association;  abolishes  capital  punishment  for 
political  offences,  refuses  extradition  of  political  de- 
linquents, guarantees  safety  of  home  and  property, 
and  excludes  confiscation. 

The  legislative  power  is  exercised  by  the  King  and 
the  other  national  representatives.  The  signatures  of 
both  are  necessary  to  the  legality  of  a  measure. 

The  executive  power  resides  in  the  King,  who  exer- 
cises it  through  a  cabinet  of  ministers  appointed  or 
dismissed  by  him,  and  who  are  responsible  to  the 
nation. 

The  portfolios  are:  Foreign  Affairs,  Interior,  War, 
Finance,  Public  Works,  Commerce,  Industry  and 
Agriculture,  Education  and  Worship,  and  Justice. 

The  ordinary  Parliament  or  National  Assembly, 


110  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

called  the  "Narodna  Skupshtina,"  meets  every  year 
on  October  1  at  the  latest,  and  is  re-elected  every 
four  years,  the  elections  occurring  on  May  21.  It 
is  composed  of  160  members  at  present,  each  county 
electing  one  member  for  every  4,500  ratepayers,  with 
an  extra  member  for  each  surplus  3,000  souls.  The 
members,  eligible  only  at  thirty  years  of  age,  are 
chosen  by  secret  and  direct  ballot.  They  receive  a 
salary  of  fifteen  dinars  (three  dollars)  per  day,  with 
travelling  expenses.  During  the  period  of  mandate 
the  members  cannot  be  brought  before  a  court  of 
justice  or  arrested  without  a  warrant  from  the  Skup- 
shtina, unless  taken  in  flagrante  delicto. 

Priests,  communal  mayors,  and  government  em- 
ployees cannot  sit  in  Parliament.  Every  male  Servian 
twenty-one  years  of  age  and  paying  fifteen  dinars 
(three  dollars)  direct  taxes  is  entitled  to  vote. 

It  lies  in  the  prerogative  of  either  the  King  or  the 
Skupshtina  to  propose  bills.  The  Skusphtina  alone 
decides  all  questions  of  State  revenue  and  expendi- 
ture, which  cannot  be  increased  or  their  use  deter- 
mined without  its  consent.  It  examines  and  passes 
upon  the  budget,  which  without  its  sanction  has  no 
legal  value.  The  Government  requires  the  authorisa- 
tion of  the  Skupshtina  in  order  to  conclude  a  loan. 

In  addition  to  the  regular  Parliament,  a  greater  or 
"Grand  Skupshtina"  may  be  convoked  by  the  King 
on  extraordinary  occasions,  fixed  by  the  Constitution 
("Ustav"),  such  as  for  the  revision  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, making  statutory  territorial  rectification  of  a 
border,  the  consideration  of  dynastic  questions,  or 
the  appointment  of  regents  for  a  ruling  minor. 


THE   KINGDOM   OF   SERVIA         111 

Administration. — The  chief  administrative  author- 
ity is  the  State  Council,  which  remains  in  permanent 
session.  Part  of  its  members  are  appointed  by  the 
King,  the  others  are  elected  by  the  Skupshtina.  The 
chief  matters  upon  which  the  State  Council  delib- 
erates are:  projected  laws,  questions  of  administra- 
tive competence  and  obligation,  complaints  of  injury 
to  private  rights  resulting  from  royal  and  ministerial 
decrees,  matters  relative  to  departmental  and  com- 
munal surtaxes  and  loans,  and  the  transfer  of  their 
real  property,  the  expropriation  of  private  property 
for  public  purposes,  the  final  settlement  of  debts  due 
to  the  State  which  cannot  be  collected,  the  payment 
of  extraordinary  sums  sanctioned  by  the  budget,  and 
exceptional  admissions  to  the  privilege  of  Servian 
citizenship. 

State  accounts  are  examined  by  a  Board  of  State 
accountants  consisting  of  a  president  and  four  mem- 
bers. 

Religion. — The  national  church  is  the  Orthodox 
Servian  Church,  which  is  autocephalous,  depending 
upon  no  foreign  authority,  but  maintaining  unity  of 
dogma  with  the  Oriental  (Ecumenical  Christian 
Church.  The  entire  population  belongs  to  this  faith, 
with  the  exception  of  about  30,000,  of  which  10,400 
are  Roman  Catholics,  about  5,500  Jews,  1,400  Prot- 
estants, 3,000  Mohammedans,  and  several  thousand 
Mohammedan  Gipsies.  There  are  also  some  few 
representatives  of  other  sects.  The  Servian  Orthodox 
Church  is  governed  by  an  ecclesiastical  body,  of  which 
the  Metropolitan,  Archbishop  of  Belgrade,  is  the 
president,  and  which  is  responsible  to  the  Minister  of 


112  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

Education  and  Worship.  Liberty  of  conscience  is 
entirely  unrestricted,  and  the  priests  of  all  the  non- 
orthodox  religions  are  free  from  all  State  interference. 

In  1906,  according  to  the  "  Statesman's  Year  Book," 
there  were  in  Servia  731  churches  and  chapels  and 
54  monasteries;  the  clergy  numbered  1,041  and 
monks  102.  The  property  of  the  churches  was 
valued  at  14,923,122  dinars,  and  that  of  the  monas- 
teries, 7,343,909  dinars;  the  revenue  of  the  churches 
was  665,007  dinars,  the  expenditure  being  562,275 
dinars;  the  income  of  the  monasteries  was  249,807 
dinars,  their  expenditure,  221,223  dinars. 

Education. — The  expense  of  all  grades  of  public 
schools  in  Servia  is  borne  by  the  public  treasury  of 
either  the  central  Government  or  the  municipalities, 
and  all  grades  and  branches  of  public  educational 
institutions  are  under  the  Ministry  of  Education. 

Elementary  and  primary  schooling  is  compulsory. 
Kindergartens  are  open  to  children  from  the  ages 
of  four  to  seven,  and  the  elementary  schooling,  with 
a  course  of  from  four  to  six  years'  duration,  is  com- 
pulsory for  all  children,  beginning  at  the  age  of  six, 
or  in  some  cases  at  seven.  In  1906  there  were  1,203 
elementary  schools  with  2,339  teachers. 

In  addition  to  special  winter  courses  in  villages, 
there  were  five  private  schools,  one  of  which  was  a 
Roman  Catholic  and  one  Protestant. 

The  higher  secondary  schools  have  an  eight  years' 
curriculum,  conferring  the  degree  of  B.A.,  which 
entitles  the  student  to  enter  the  University  of  Bel- 
grade. There  are  twenty  such  schools  with  347 
teachers  and  6,061  pupils.    Those  pupils  who  take  an 


THE   KINGDOM  OF  SERVIA         113 

incomplete  course  of  secondary  schooling  enter  tech- 
nical schools:  the  Commercial  Academy,  which  has  a 
three  years'  course;  one  of  the  four  normal  schools 
(two  male,  two  female)  for  the  training  of  teachers, 
or  a  seminary  for  the  education  of  priests  which  has 
a  nine  years'  course.  There  are  three  special  schools, 
one  for  agriculture,  one  for  viticulture,  and  one  for 
arboriculture;  three  superior  schools  for  girls  ex- 
clusively, with  87  teachers  and  1,048  students;  also 
a  Government  military  academy.  The  "Great 
School,"  or  University,  was  founded  at  Belgrade  in 
1838  with  four  faculties,  Science,  Law,  Letters,  and 
Technology,  with  the  aim  of  furnishing  a  practical 
equipment  for  utilitarian  purposes.  In  1907  an 
Agricultural  faculty  was  added  and  a  Medical  faculty 
projected. 

The  University  had,  in  1906,  67  professors  and  780 
students.  The  lecturers  comprise  regular  professors, 
special  professors,  permanent  preceptors,  temporary 
preceptors  (elected  each  three  years),  honorary  pro- 
fessors, and  teachers.  Professors  may  also  have 
assistants. 

Forty  years  constitute  the  term  of  service  of  the 
regular  professors.  Their  salary,  beginning  at  6,000 
dinars  ($1,200)  a  year,  reaches  a  maximum  of  9,000 
dinars  ($1,800).  The  salary  of  honorary  lecturers  is 
voted  by  the  administrative  board  of  the  University. 
In  the  elementary  schools  teachers,  male  and  female, 
begin  with  800  dinars  salary,  which  increases  to  2,550 
and  3,000  dinars  in  the  twenty-seventh  year.  After 
the  thirtieth  year  they  are  entitled  to  retire  on  full-pay 
pensions.      Teachers  of   the  secondary  schools  and 


114  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

technical  colleges,  beginning  as  assistant  teachers, 
obtain  a  gradual  promotion  in  salary  and  status,  and 
can  become  professors  upon  passing  a  required  exam- 
ination. The  regular  salary  of  these  teachers  begins 
at  2,400  dinars  and  increases  to  6,000.  After  thirty 
years'  service  they  are  entitled  to  retire  with  full-pay 
pensions. 

For  1906  the  expenditure  on  elementary  schools 
was  4,577,110  dinars;  on  secondary  schools,  1,249,- 
972;  on  the  theological  school,  169,325;  on  the 
normal  schools,  126,198;  on  the  special  schools, 
164,189;  on  the  superior  schools  for  girls,  194,432; 
and  on  the  University  of  Belgrade,  493,000—6,974,226 
dinars  on  those  schools. 

Justice,  Crime,  Pauperism. — Judges  are  appointed 
by  the  King,  but  the  independence  of  the  Bench  is 
guarded  by  the  fact  that  the  appointment  is  per- 
petual and  non-revocable  except  under  impeach- 
ment of  the  incumbent. 

There  are  twenty-four  courts  of  first  instance,  a 
court  of  appeal,  a  court  of  cassation,  and  a  tribunal 
of  commerce.  The  number  of  convictions  in  all 
the  courts  of  first  instance  in  1906  was  3,972,  and 
the  three  penal  establishments  held  3,177  prisoners 
(3,079  males  and  98  females),  under  sentence  of  hard 
labour. 

Pauperism  is  unknown  in  Servia,  even  the  poorest 
citizen  possessing  a  certain  amount  of  inalienable 
property.  The  correlative  of  the  pauper,  the  work- 
house, is  equally  unknown.  Belgrade  has  a  free 
municipal  hospital,  and  there  is  an  orphanage  sup- 
ported entirely  by  voluntary  contributions. 


THE   KINGDOM   OF   SERVIA         115 

Matrimony. — The  number  of  males  is  always  in 
excess  of  the  number  of  females  in  Servia,  the  last 
census  showing  the  proportion  to  be  943  women  to 
1,000  men.  Of  the  girls,  3.73  per  cent,  marry  before 
the  age  of  sixteen,  and  of  the  men  42  per  cent,  before 
the  age  of  twenty.  More  than  45  per  cent,  of  the 
total  population,  including  those  previously  widowed, 
are  married.  The  average  birth-rate  per  married 
couple  is  4.40  per  cent.  Illegitimacy  of  children  is 
almost  unknown  in  Servia. 

The  Army 

Military  service  is  obligatory  and  universal  in  Ser- 
via, all  men  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  fifty 
being  liable  to  be  called  to  the  colours. 

The  defence  comprises  the  National  Army  and  the 
Lev'ee  en  masse  ("Poslyednya  Odbrana"). 

The  National  Army  is  composed  of  men  between 
the  ages  of  twenty-one  and  forty-four  and  is  divided 
into  three  Bans.  The  first  Ban  is  the  Field  Force,  or 
first  line,  men  from  twenty-one  to  thirty-one,  forming 
the  Regular  Army  and  its  Reserves.  The  second  Ban 
provides  for  the  formation  of  troops  of  the  second 
line,  and  in  time  of  peace  consists  of  "cadres"  only. 
The  third  Ban  is  the  Home  Defence.  The  Levee  en 
masse  comprises  all  men  able  to  carry  arms,  from 
eighteen  to  twenty-one  and  from  forty-five  to  fifty, 
and  all  individuals  able  to  carry  arms  not  employed  in 
the  National  Army.  The  time  of  service  in  the  Reg- 
ular Army  or  Field  Army  is  ten  years,  of  which  two 
years  are  passed  under  the  colours  for  artillery  and 
cavalry;  one  and  a  half  years  for  infantry  and  the 


116  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

other  branches;  eight  or  eight  and  a  half  years  in 
the  Reserve  (Regular  Army).  After  ten  years'  service 
in  the  Field  Army  the  soldier  serves  six  years  in  the 
Reserve  of  the  second  Ban,  and  thereafter  passes  for 
eight  years  into  the  third  Ban. 

The  conditions  of  temporary  exemption  from  ser- 
vice with  the  colours  are  the  same  as  in  all  countries 
where  military  service  is  obligatory.  The  sole  bread- 
winner and  the  only  son  of  a  widowed  mother  de- 
pendent upon  him,  etc.,  have  only  a  month  of  in- 
struction and  belong  to  the  "  Ersatz  Reserve,"  with 
liability  to  short  periods  of  drill.  Students  having 
passed  their  B.A.  serve  only  six  months  if  they  are 
able  to  pass  the  examination  for  sub-lieutenant  of 
Reserve,  or,  failing  that,  they  serve  fourteen  months. 

The  yearly  recruiting  contingent  averages  24,700 
men.  Servia  is  organised  into  five  divisional  military 
districts,  each  of  which  contributes  one  infantry  divi- 
sion of  two  brigades — that  is,  consisting  of  four  in- 
fantry regiments,  one  regiment  of  field  artillery,  and 
one  regiment  of  divisional  cavalry.  The  infantry 
regiments  are  recruited  territorially.  The  Servian  in- 
fantry is  organised  in  twenty  regiments  of  three  field 
battalions  and  one  dej)ot  battalion.  The  cavalry  con- 
sists of  five  regiments  of  divisional  cavalry,  existing 
in  time  of  peace  only  in  cadre;  four  cavalry  regiments 
each  of  four  squadrons,  the  squadron  of  197  horses. 
These  four  regiments  are  complete  in  time  of  peace 
and  form  a  separate  cavalry  division.  The  artillery 
consists  of  five  regiments  of  field  artillery,  each  of 
three  divisions  of  three  batteries  (nine  batteries),  the 
batteries  having  four  guns  in  peace  and  six  in  war; 


THE   KINGDOM   OF   SERVIA         117 

one  mountain  artillery  regiment  of  two  divisions  of 
three  batteries;  one  howitzer  regiment  of  two  divi- 
sions and  three  batteries  each;  one  battery  of  horse 
artillery  which  expands  in  war  time  into  two  batteries 
of  four  guns  each. 

The  engineers  consist  of  one  battalion  of  five  field 
companies,  two  companes  of  pontooniers,  one  mining, 
one  telegraph,  and  one  railway  company.  On  mob- 
ilisation the  five  field  companies  are  each  attached  to 
one  infantry  division,  together  with  a  pontoon  section. 

The  second  Ban  exists  in  time  of  peace  as  cadres 
only.  In  time  of  war  the  second  Ban  comprises  fifteen 
infantry  regiments  each  of  three  battalions,  five  regi- 
ments of  divisional  cavalry,  and  the  necessary  engineers. 

The  third  Ban  has  no  organisation  at  present,  but 
the  necessary  number  of  men  and  material  is  there  to 
form  fifteen  regiments  of  infantry  and  five  squadrons 
of  cavalry. 

The  Royal  Guard  is  composed  of  one  company  of 
infantry  and  one  squadron  of  cavalry,  the  men  of 
these  bodies  being  selected  from  among  the  infantry 
and  cavalry  of  the  Regular  Army. 

The  Servian  army  in  time  of  war  consists  of  five 
infantry  divisions,  one  cavalry  division,  one  mountain 
artillery  regiment,  one  howitzer  artillery  regiment, 
sanitary  troops,  train  engineers,  etc.,  a  total  of  about 
110,000  combatants  for  the  field  army. 

The  second  Ban  includes  about  65,000  combatants, 
the  third  Ban  from  about  50,000  to  G0,000  men. 

The  Servian  infantry  is  armed  with  the  Mauser  rifle, 
repeating  model,  1899;  7  mm.  The  artillery  is  armed 
with  modern  quick-firing  field  and  mountain  guns, 


118  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

system  Shneider-Canet  since  1908.  Besides,  there  is 
the  old  but  still  good  De  Bange  artillery  material  with 
which  the  batteries  were  armed  up  to  1908.  Of  this 
material  there  are  350  pieces  of  field,  mountain,  and 
howitzer  guns,  with  which  in  war  reserve  artillery 
formations  will  be  armed. 

Further,  there  are  about  120  machine  guns,  system 
Maxim  and  Hotchkiss. 

The  peace  strength  of  the  Servian  army,  according 
to  the  Budget  of  1907,  was  35,605  officers  and  men 
and  1,838  gendarmes.  The  military  expenditure  is 
about  $4,500,000  per  annum. 

Fortifications. — The  junction  of  roads  and  railways 
at  Nish  is  protected  and  commanded  by  extensive 
works. 

On  the  Bulgarian  border  at  Zayetchar  are  five 
forts,  and  Pirot,  on  the  railway  line,  Nish  to  Sofia, 
near  the  Bulgarian  border,  is  strongly  fortified. 

The  State  possesses  on  the  Danube  one  steamer 
used  as  a  military  transport. 

Finance 

State  Budget. — The  principal  prerogative  of  the 
National  Skupshtina  is  to  examine,  to  pass  on,  or  re- 
ject the  Budget  laid  before  it  by  the  Cabinet  without 
the  power  of  augmenting  the  various  credits.  In  case 
the  Skupshtina  should  delay  the  ratification  of  the 
new  Budget  that  of  the  last  year  may  hold  good  for 
another  period,  otherwise  the  Budget  is  good  only 
for  one  year.  The  King  sanctions  the  Budget  in  con- 
junction with  the  State  Council.  The  amounts  fixed 
in  the  Budget  for  certain  purposes  cannot  be  diverted 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  SERVIA 


119 


to  other  purposes,  nor  can  the  deficit  of  one  depart- 
ment be  covered  by  a  surplus  in  another  department. 
In  case  of  extraordinary  and  unforeseen  expenses, 
the  Government  can  call  upon  complementary  and 
extraordinary  credit  foreseen  and  regulated  by  law. 

State  Budget. — 

Revenues  (in  Francs)  : 

YEAR  ESTIMATED  ACTUAL 

1886 46,000,000  28,775,256 

1896 63,659,720  59,116,858 

1904 89,236,721  87,902,436 

1905 87,896,000  87,676,437 

1906 89,207,072  91,270,374 

1907 90,452,752  94,824,117 

1908 95,239,037 

1909 99,031,444 

1910 113,977,744 


Expenditures  (in  Francs) : 

YEAR  ESTIMATED  ACTUAL 

1886 45,968,639       39,225,046 

1896 63,355,606       64,947,113 

1904 89,143,835       85,153,797 

1905 87,632,278       84,908,931 

1906 89,145,095       87,335,640 

1907 90,387,225       86,689,952 

1908 95,091,251 

1909 98,932,757 

1910 112,893,075 


120 


THE  SERVIAN  PEOPLE 


Chief  Items  of  Revenues: 

Francs 

Direct  Taxes  (1907) 26,029,090 

Indirect  Taxes  (Customs,  etc.)  (1907)       .     14,500,000 

Monopolies  (1907) 25,310,000 

Stamp  Duties  (1907) 5,525,000 

State  Railways,  Post  and  Telegraphs,  Do- 
mains (1907) 19,000,000 


Chief  Items  of  Expenditures: 

Civil  List 

Debt  (Public)  Charge  (1907) 
Pensions  (1907)  .... 
Public  Instruction  (1905)    . 
Ministry  of  Finance  (1907) 
War  (1907)      . 

"       Public  Works  (190; 

"       Foreign  Affairs 

"       Justice  . 

"       Commerce  and  Agriculture 


•V) 


1,200,000 
23,741,948 
4,481,197 
6,052,391 
9,192,714 
20,498,885 
9,361,648 
2,359,034 
2,285,379 
3,087,868 


Public  Debt. — In  1863  Servia  contracted  her  first 
public  debt  and  issued  her  first  public  loan,  which 
was  augmented  by  several  other  small  debts  during 
the  war  with  Turkey  in  1876-8.  In  1881  she  con- 
tracted her  first  important  debt  of  33,000,000  francs 
for  railway  purposes.  Finally,  after  some  other  loans, 
the  Servian  Government  and  a  syndicate  consolidated 
in  1895  all  the  Servian  public  debts  contracted  prior 
to  that  date  from  the  year  1881,  the  Serbian  Govern- 
ment giving  as  guarantee  its  net  revenues  from  rail- 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  SERVIA 


121 


ways,  customs,  monopolies,  taxes,  and  returns  of  the 
obet  (excise).  The  Autonomous  Administration  of 
Monopolies  manages  these  revenues  and  superintends 
the  exact  payment  of  the  annuities. 


Table  of  Servia's  Public  Debts 


6 

"3 

Nominal 

value  of  loan 

{in  francs). 

Actual 

amount  of 

indebtedness 

(in  francs). 

1 

2 
3 

1 

6 

7 
8 
9 

Loan  in  Russia  in  1S7G  . 

Lottery  loan  of  18S1 .... 

Loan  on  obligations  of  the  L'p- 
rava  Fondova,  1886    . 

Loan  on  tobacco  bonds  in  1SS8 

Consolidation  loan  of  1895  . 

Loan    for    railway  exploitation 
in  1899  ...".... 

Loan  of  1900 

2  % 
5  % 

4  % 

5  % 

5% 

33,000,000 

12,000,000 

10,000,000 

355,292,000 

11,500,000 

00,000,000 

95,000,000 

150,000,000 

3,750,000 
24,730,000 

7,293,000 

9,170,000 

339,900,000 

4,800,000 

57,538,500 

94,194,500 

150,000,000 

The  total  actual  indebtedness  of  Servia  amounted 
on  January  1,  1909,  to  541,370,000  francs.  Servia 
pays  her  annuities  regularly.  The  annual  debt  charge 
in  1907  was  23^  11,948  dinars. 

Money.  —The  principal  bank  in  Servia  is  the  Na- 
tional Bank  of  Servia,  at  Belgrade,  nominal  capital 
20,000,000  dinars,  of  which  6,500,000  is  paid  up.  Its 
bank-note  circulation  in  December,  1907,  amounted 
to  37,362,92*3  dinars,  with  cash  on  hand,  14,105,842 
dinars  in  gold  and  7,434,967  dinars  in  silver.  Of 
importance  is  the  Export  Bank,  which  assists  in    the 


122  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

exportation  of  Servian  products  and  has  agencies  in 
other  countries.  The  Uprava  Fondova  (Mortgage 
Bank)  is  a  large  State  institution  making  important 
advances  to  a  large  amount  for  agricultural  opera- 
tions. 

There  are  seven  State  savings  banks  and  a  Class 
Lottery  (German  system),  twenty-four  ordinary  pri- 
vate banks,  and  six  hundred  agricultural  co-operative 
societies  on  the  Ucifeisen  co-operative  banking  sys- 
tem. 

Servia  adopted  by  the  law  of  June  20,  1875,  the 
decimal  system  for  its  moneys,  weights,  and  measures. 
The  Servian  dinar  is  equal  to  one  franc,  or  twenty 
cents,  in  United  States  currency. 

A  hundred  paras  make  one  dinar.  There  are  in 
circulation  gold  coins  of  ten  and  twenty  dinars,  and 
silver  coins  of  five,  two,  one,  and  one-half  dinars; 
bronze  coins  are  of  ten  and  five  and  two  paras;  nickel 
coins  of  five,  ten,  and  twenty  paras. 

Products  and  Industries 

Every  condition  is  favourable  to  agriculture.  A  good 
climate,  a  plenteous  supply  of  good  water,  richness  of 
soil,  with  a  quality  of  loam  yielding  often  three  crops  a 
year,  favourable  rural  organisation  and  traditions,  the 
Servians'  natural  pleasure  in  the  development  of  the 
soil,  the  dignity  of  agricultural  pursuits — all  combine 
to  make  of  Servia,  with  improved  means  of  com- 
munication and  the  opening  up  of  adequate  facilities 
for  transportation  to  other  countries,  a  land  destined 
to  become  more  and  more  an  important  source  of 
all  kinds  of  agricultural  products.     Those  fortunate 


THE   KINGDOM   OF   SERVIA  123 

conditions,  together  with  her  rich  and  various  ore 
and  mineral  deposits,  point  to  a  bounteous  prosperity 
in  store  for  her  as  a  producer  of  raw  materials. 

The  realisation  of  these  facts  has  resulted  in  giving 
the  Servian  Ministry  of  Agriculture  control  over  a 
far-reaching  organisation  for  the  furtherance  not 
only  of  agriculture  proper  but  of  production  in  all 
its  branches.  In  addition  to  the  large  number  of  pri- 
vate agricultural  institutions,  the  State  has  founded 
schools  for  the  teaching  and  scientific  study  of  farm- 
ing and  of  the  cultivation  of  vines  and  orchards  (near 
Negotin,  in  the  wine-producing  district  of  north- 
western Servia);  an  agricultural  and  cattle-raising 
school  near  Shaba  ts;  a  cattle-raising  institution  at 
Dobrichevo,  with  branches  in  three  other  districts; 
a  magnificent  agricultural  estate  near  Belgrade  (at 
Topchider);  six  State  vine  nurseries  which  (by  the 
introduction  of  American  vines  into  Servia)  have  suc- 
ceeded in  stamping  out  the  phylloxera  that  threatened 
the  total  destruction  of  the  vines  in  the  early  eighties. 
This  institution  not  only  distributes  the  American 
vines  to  the  people,  but  gives  instruction  in  the  art 
of  grafting.  There  are  also  in  the  country  three  model 
practical  agricultural  farm  schools,  fifty-one  model 
nurseries  for  fruit-growing,  apiculture,  sericulture, 
and  poultry-farming,  where  instruction  is  freely  given 
in  all  these  branches.' 

The  Ministry  of  Agriculture  inspects  all  institu- 
tions where  agriculture  and  its  branches  are  taught, 

1  The  Agricultural  and  Chemical  Station  at  Belgrade,  enlarged  in  1902 
with  a  section  for  Phytopathology,  studies  the  different  parasites  and  ill- 
nesses of  plants  and  the  means  of  combating  them,  and  is  bound  to  give 
gratuitous  information  on  illnesses  of  plants  to  all  interested  persons. 


124  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

and  collects  and  publishes  statistical  data  concerning 
all  departments  of  the  country's  development. 

At  the  beginning  of  1906  there  were  528  private 
agricultural  associations  incorporated  into  the  Union 
of  Agricultural  Societies,  with  a  central  administra- 
tion at  Belgrade.  Among  the  many  other  private 
societies  for  the  furtherance  of  the  interests  of  prod- 
uce are  the  Servian  Agricultural  Society,  founded  in 
1869,  the  Apiculture  Society,  Sericulture  Society,  etc. 

Practically  every  Servian  countryman  owns  and 
tills  his  own  land,  possessing  from  10  to  20,  to  30,  on 
up  to  100  or  even  200  acres,  but  rarely  more.  Of  the 
total  population,  84.23  per  cent,  are  engaged  in  agri- 
culture and  cattle-raising. 

Cereals. — Although  maize  (Indian  corn)  is  the 
largest  of  all  the  cereal  crops,  it  is  used  almost  uni- 
versally for  bread  in  the  rural  districts  and  as  food 
for  cattle  and  hogs,  and  therefore  figures  less  on  ex- 
port lists  than  does  wheat.  The  maize  export  fig- 
ures for  1905  were  about  20,476,279  kilogrammes,  as 
against  a  wheat  export  of  93,146,686  kilogrammes. 

The  other  cereals  according  to  importance  are: 
barley,  oats,  rye,  millet,  and  buckwheat. 

Vegetables. — The  vegetables  are  beans,  onions,  chilli 
peppers,  cabbage,  garlic,  leeks,  pumpkins,  water- 
melons (in  great  quantity),  musk-melons,  cucumbers, 
with  some  potatoes  and  tomatoes.  Beet-root  has  been 
cultivated  recently  to  a  certain  extent. 

Hemp  and  flax  are  produced  in  important  quan- 
tities in  Servia.  They  are  used  in  the  weaving  of 
home-made  linen  for  wearing  apparel  and  household 
purposes,   but   are   exported   as   well.     Tobacco,   a 


THE   KINGDOM   OF   SERVIA  Uo 

Government  monopoly,  is  exported  in  considerable 
amount  from  Servia. 

Fruit. — The  conditions  are  exceptionally  favour- 
able for  fruit-growing,  which  has  taken  the  lead  of 
all  agricultural  products.  Plums  are  raised  in 
greater  quantities  than  any  other  fruit,  though  all 
mid-European  varieties  of  fruit  are  abundant  in 
Servia — apples,  pears,  quinces,  cherries,  apricots, 
nuts,  grapes.  All  of  these  fruits  are  of  fine  quality 
and  ripen  in  good  condition,  it  being  found  possible 
to  export  them  fresh  from  the  tree.  Plums  and  their 
products,  prunes  (dried  plums),  "Pekmez"  (made  by 
boiling  ripe  plums  down  in  their  own  sugar  to  a  stiff, 
smooth  jam),  and  the  famous  Servian  plum  brandy 
(slivovitza),  are  imported  in  large  quantities,  and 
are  much  in  demand  in  European  markets.  The 
wine  of  Xegotin  is  of  fine  quality,  and  is  now  exported 
under  its  own  name.  Formerly  a  Bordeaux  firm  im- 
ported it  and  resold  it,  labelled  with  a  Bordeaux 
brand.  In  the  same  way  the  Servian  prunes  often 
find  their  way  to  the  public  as  French  or  German 
fruit. 

Cattle  and  Other  Domestic  Animals. — More  than 
one-half  of  the  total  export  revenues  is  derived 
from  cattle  and  hogs.  Their  flesh  is  exceedingly 
wholesome,  as  a  result  of  their  feeding  on  the  grass 
of  meadows  and  hillsides,  and  having  fresh,  good 
water  to  drink,  and  sanitary  natural  conditions  gen- 
erally. 

The  estimate  gives:  174,363  horses,  969,953  head 
of  cattle,  3,160,166  sheep,  908,108  hogs,  500,063 
goats,  7,710  buffaloes,  1,271  asses,  etc. 


126  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

Poultry. — The  revenue  from  the  exportation  of 
poultry  and  eggs  becomes  year  by  year  more  im- 
portant;  in  1905  it  was  1,893,580  francs. 

The  cultivation  of  silk-worms  is  reviving  in  Servia 
and  is  in  a  promising  state.  In  the  Middle  Ages  silk- 
producing  was  of  important  value.  In  1905  silk- 
worm seed  and  cocoons  were  exported  to  the  extent 
of  97,256  kilogrammes,  value,  $19,240. 

Hunting  and  Fishing. — The  mountains  of  Servia 
abound  in  game:  deer,  stag,  fallow  deer,  and  hare; 
the  bear,  wild  boar,  wolf,  wild-cat,  weasel,  fox,  etc.; 
several  species  of  birds  and  water-fowl :  eagles,  hawks, 
vultures,  doves,  partridge,  woodcock,  etc.  Game 
laws  exist  as  in  other  countries. 

The  streams  hold  plentiful  fish — trout  and  perch 
in  the  hill  streams  and  pools,  and  larger  fish,  especially 
sturgeon,  in  the  Danube  and  Sava. 

Forestry. — More  than  31.4  per  cent,  of  the  total  area 
of  Servia  is  covered  with  forests;  36.2  per  cent,  of 
these  belong  to  the  State,  42.8  per  cent,  to  the  muni- 
cipalities and  villages,  1.1  per  cent,  to  monasteries 
and  churches,  and  19.9  per  cent,  are  private  property. 

The  most  numerous  trees  are  the  different  species 
of  oak  and  the  beech;  besides  these,  the  leaf-trees 
(90  per  cent,  of  the  forests)  include  several  species  of 
maple-trees,  ash,  elm,  lime,  birch,  hornbeam,  black 
alder,  white  alder,  several  species  of  poplar  and  of 
willow;  walnut,  hazel-nut,  and  several  species  of  six 
other  kinds  of  trees.  Ten  per  cent,  of  the  forest-trees 
are  cone-bearers,  chiefly  pines  and  fir-trees  in  the 
south-western  part  of  Servia. 

The  forest  riches  of  Servia  are  practically  untapped, 


THE   KINGDOM   OF   SERVIA  127 

on  account  of  insufficient  means  of  communication. 
The  State,  therefore,  cannot  at  present  profit  by  its 
enormous  forests,  which  form  one  of  Servia's  rich 
stores  of  resource.  At  this  time  more  timber  is 
imported  into  the  country  than  is  taken  out  of  it. 

Minerals  and  Ore. — Servia  is  rich  in  mineral  and 
ore  deposits,  especially  in  copper,  gold,  coal,  lead, 
and  silver.  All  of  the  rivers  of  the  realm  are  gold- 
bearing  to  some  extent.  During  Turkish  times 
no  mines  were  worked,  and  they  were  more  or  less 
forgotten,  but  the  development  of  peaceful  and 
flourishing  conditions  in  free  Servia  has  led  to  the  re- 
location of  some  of  the  old  mines  (several  of  them 
were  exploited  by  the  Romans),  and  investigation 
under  government  supervision  has  revealed  the  exist- 
ence of  many  fresh  deposits. 

Much  foreign  and  local  capital  is  already  being  in- 
vested in  works  for  the  exploitation  of  some  of  these 
mines. 

The  State  works  coal  and  lignite  beds,  and  a  Bel- 
gian company  is  among  the  foreign  concessionaries. 
The  output  of  various  ores  for  1906  was  2,375,067 
metric  tons. 

Mining  is  carried  on  for  gold,  copper,  lead,  zinc, 
antimony,  silver,  iron,  quicksilver,  asbestos,  arsenic, 
chromium,  graphite,  gypsum,  sulphur,  marbles; 
building:  stone  and  oil  shales  are  found. 

For  the  development  of  mining  industries,  as  well 
as  for  every  other  branch  of  the  development  of  Ser- 
via's rich  resources,  extended  means  of  communica- 
tion and  an  augmentation  of  the  railway  system  are 
necessary.     Indeed,  it  may  be  said  that  Servia  is  a 


128  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

pioneer  country  of  enormous  and  varied  wealth  of 
natural  resources,  lying  in  the  heart  of  Europe,  a 
mine  of  undeveloped  treasure,  guarded  intact  by  the 
very  enemies  who  have,  as  it  were,  bound  the  land  to 
inaction  and  imprisoned  the  capacities  of  her  people 
so  many  hundred  years. 

Industries. — Industries,  as  they  are  understood  in 
Europe,  have  not  as  yet  made  much  important  prog- 
ress. It  is  doubted  whether  the  true  prosperity  of  the 
Serb  country  lies  in  that  direction.  Some  have  hoped 
that  this  fair  land,  where  pauperism  and  millionairism 
are  equally  unknown,  may  be  able  to  escape  the 
blankness  of  desolation  and  misery  of  the  vast  army 
of  the  non-possessing  class  who  feed  the  machinery 
of  the  great  industries  of  more  Western  worlds — 
"feed"  them  with  their  own  lives  in  more  senses  than 
one. 

The  arts  of  handicraft,  however,  constitute  a 
special  and  precious  attainment,  and  have  since 
earliest  times  been  cultivated  and  developed  in  Ser- 
vian lands.  Though  these  articles  are  produced  pri- 
marily for  domestic,  if  not  for  personal  use,  some  of 
them  became  known  elsewhere. 

The  famous  carpets  and  rugs  of  Pirot,  in  the  tchel- 
lim  weave  (like  the  Persian  "kelim"  stitch),  whose 
rich  colourings  are  yet  sober  and  harmonious,  while 
the  designs  are  severe  and  elegant,  have  been  made 
and  perfected  during  centuries  by  Servian  girls  and 
women  working  by  traditional  methods,  from  de- 
signs carried  in  the  mind  only,  and  imagined  or  modi- 
fied according  to  the  individual  taste  and  fancy  of 
the  weavers.  It  is  rare  that  any  design  is  ever  re- 
peated.   Each  family  has  its  inherited  processes  and 


THE   KINGDOM   OF   SERVIA  129 

secrets  as  to  extracting  and  combining  colours,  etc. 
The  colours  are  all  "sap-colours,"  or  vegetable  dyes, 
and  the  carpets  can  be  washed  without  being  dam- 
aged. The  wools  are  from  a  special  breed  of  Servian 
sheep,  and  are  carefully  selected.  The  work  is  done 
at  home  in  the  houses,  and  the  products  are  sold  by 
the  Zadrugas. 

The  Pirot  Carpet  Zadruga  is  at  present  a  co- 
operative society,  composed  of  the  women  who  weave 
the  carpets,  and  is  aided  by  the  State  with  capital. 
Founded  in  1902,  it  is  managed  by  a  council  of  seven 
members  and  two  committees  of  five  each,  one  of 
supervision  and  the  other  of  estimates,  the  last  being 
composed  of  persons  who  are  not  financially  inter- 
ested in  the  Imimuc-s  but  who  are  good  judges  of 
carpets,  and  tli«"  prices  they  fix  are  accepted  as  being 
fair  and  right.  This  Pirot  Zadruga  has  in  the  short 
time  since  its  foundation  turned  out  work  with  great 
success,  which  lias  been  awarded  several  "Grand 
Prix"  in  different  European  exhibitions.  Another 
department  of  women's  handicraft  is  the  weaving  of 
all  fabrics,  from  the  most  exquisite  and  sheer  silken 
textures  to  the  stoutest  and  most  durable  for  wear 
a imI  household  purposes.  These  textures  and  the 
beautiful  embroideries  and  needle-work  point,  which 
the  Servian  women  make,  are  greatly  admired  by 
travellers  from  other  lands.  The  men's  handicrafts 
are  numerous,  and  include  many  matters  relating  to 
building,  metal  work,  work  in  wood,  leather,  pottery, 
etc.  The  desire  to  make  it  possible  for  the  handi- 
crafts products  to  hold  their  own  in  the  presence  of 
machine-made  cheap  articles  has  caused  the  matter 
to  be  closely  studied,  and  has  inspired  the  creation  of 


130  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

institutions  for  preserving  and  improving  the  meth- 
ods and  conditions  of  production  and  the  introduc- 
tion of  laws  in  their  interest.  Holiday  primary 
schools  for  handicraft  have  been  founded  in  all  the 
chief  towns,  and  two  higher  handicrafts  schools  in 
Belgrade  and  Kragouyevatz.  Both  the  State  and 
private  corporations  aid  students  to  study  art  abroad. 
Handicraft  banks  have  been  set  up  to  furnish  the 
artisans  with  capital  at  low  rates  of  interest.  The 
State  endeavours,  by  all  means  of  treaty  and  arrange- 
ment with  foreign  governments,  to  help  the  sale  of 
the  works  of  handicrafts. 

Modern  Manufactures. — The  most  important  of 
these  are  flour-milling,  which  is  rapidly  developing, 
meat-packing,  sugar-making  from  beet-root,  tobacco 
manufacture,  and  the  making  of  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion at  Kragouyevatz,  etc.,  etc. 

Commerce. — Only  4.41  per  cent,  of  the  Servian 
population  are  engaged  in  commerce: 

YEAR  IMPORTS  EXPORTS  TRANSIT 

1903 58,235,262         59,967,704         32,734,422 

1906 44,328,642         71,604,098         48,645,925 

1907 70,583,327         81,491,262         55,963,728 

Lines  of  Communication. — The  main  railroad  line 
of  Servia  is  the  line  from  Belgrade  to  Nish  and  east- 
ward, via  Pirot,  in  Servia,  and  via  Sofia,  in  Bulgaria, 
to  Constantinople,  a  section  of  the  Orient  express 
route,  with  the  connection  of  the  same  line  at  Nish, 
continuing  due  south  to  Salonica,  through  the  Mo- 
rava-Vardar  valley.  There  are  some  secondary 
branches:  Smederevo-Velika  Plana,  Lapovo-Kragu- 
yevatz,  a  total  of  390  miles.    The  necessity  of  road 


PRINCIPALITY   OF   MONTENEGRO     131 

development  is  great,  and  the  Government  has 
planned,  and  is  building,  by  degrees,  about  700  miles 
of  narrow-gauge  railroads. 

There  are  3,490  miles  of  highways. 

One  hundred  and  ninety-eight  miles  of  the  Dan- 
ube are  navigable,  lying  along  the  northern  border, 
as  well  as  90  miles  of  the  Sava  river.  The  Drina, 
on  the  western  border,  gives  106  miles  of  navigable 
riverway  for  small  craft. 

The  Servian  Steamship  Company  plies  on  the  Sava 
and  the  Danube,  alongside  of  several  other  foreign 
river  steamboat  companies.  At  the  end  of  1907  there 
were  2,140  miles  of  telegraph  with  5,042  miles  of 
wire,  and  175  telegraph  offices.  The  post-office,  tele- 
graph, and  telephone  services  belong  to  the  State. 
There  were  1,451  post-offices  carrying  internally, 
alone,  in  1907,  43,700,000  letters. 


2.    THE  PRINCIPALITY  OF   MONTENEGRO    (TSRNAGORA) 

MONTENEGRO,  a  co- 
lossal mass  of  moun- 
tain piled  upon  mountain, 
occupies  the  extreme  south- 
western point  of  the  Servian 
Block,  touching  the  Adriatic 
Sea  for  twenty-eight  miles 
from  Duleigno  to  Antivari, 
thence  continuing  its  west- 
ern border  along  the  slender 
coastal  strip  of  Dalmatia,  then  following  the  south- 
eastern boundary  of  Herzegovina  in  a  north-easterly 


132  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

trend,  up  to  a  point  of  junction  with  Novi-Bazar 
(Old  Servia),  whose  south- western  border  it  follows 
to  the  Albanian  territory,  whose  northern  limits  form 
the  south-eastern  border  of  Montenegro. 

The  area  is  about  3,630  square  miles.  The  entire 
population  is  Servian,  and  numbers  from  about 
250,000  to  280,000,  the  fluctuation  being  accountable 
to  the  large  stream  of  emigration  to  America  and  the 
numbers  who  continually  repatriate  themselves  after 
having  worked  for  some  time,  often  years,  abroad. 
The  Montenegrins  are  broad-shouldered  and  tall, 
averaging  over  six  feet  in  height.  There  are  two 
types:  those  in  the  southern  and  western  parts  of 
the  country  are  usually  dark-complexioned,  while  in 
the  Brdas,  the  central,  northern,  and  eastern  regions, 
the  prevailing  type  is  fair  with  light  brown  hair  and 
gray  eyes. 

Administration  and  Social  Organisation 

As  in  all  Servian  lands,  the  basis  of  the  social  or- 
ganisation is  the  Family — formed  into  Zadrugas. 
Several  such  families  form  a  Bratstvo  (brother- 
hood), several  Bratstvos,  a  Selo  (village)  or  a  Pleme 
(clan),  and  a  group  of  Plemes  form  a  Zhupa  or 
Nahia.  The  Turkish  word  "Nahia"  has  come  to  be 
in  general  use  to-day.  Montenegro  comprises  eight 
Nahias. 

Up  to  1851  Montenegro  was  governed  in  accord- 
ance with  traditionary  Serb  custom,  by  popular  as- 
sembly. The  chief  executive  power  was  in  the  hands 
of  a  governor,  who  was  elected,  and  superior  to  him 
was  the  Bishop,  who,  as  spiritual  head  of  the  united 


PRINCIPALITY   OF   MONTENEGRO     133 

clans — his  diocese  including  them  all — was  looked 
upon  as  the  supreme  authority.  In  1851  Bishop 
Danilo,  uncle  of  the  present  Prince  of  Montenegro, 
secularised  himself  by  a  coup  d'etat  and  merged  the 
ancient  confederation  of  clans  into  an  absolute  Prin- 
cipality, for  which  he  obtained,  under  the  a?gis  of 
Russia,  recognition  by  the  European  Powers. 

Constitution. — The  Constitution  dates  from  De- 
cember 19,  1905,  and  the  first  Parliament  on  Western 
lines  assembled  in  Montenegro  in  1906,  being  dis- 
solved in  1907.  With  that  grant  Montenegro  became 
a  hereditary  constitutional  monarchy.  The  Skupsh- 
tina  (Parliament)  meets  at  the  capital,  Cettinye,  every 
year,  on  October  31,  being  convoked  by  the  Prince. 
Its  members  are  elected  by  universal  suffrage  for  a 
term  of  four  years.  One  representative  is  elected  by 
each  of  the  fifty-six  Capitanats,  or  districts,  and 
one  each  by  the  six  towns,  Cettinye,  Podgoritza, 
Nikshitch,  Kolashin,  Antivari,  and  Dulcigno.  There 
are  also  twelve  members  who  sit  in  virtue  of  their 
offices;  they  are:  The  Montenegrin  Orthodox 
Metropolitan,  the  Roman  Catholic  Archbishop  of 
Antivari,  the  [Montenegrin  Mussulman  Mufti,  six 
high  officials  of  the  State,  and  three  generals  nomi- 
nated by  the  Prince,  making  seventy-four  members 
in  all. 

The  portfolios  of  the  Cabinet  are  held  by  six  min- 
isters. The  President  of  the  Council  holds  the  two 
portfolios  of  Foreign  Affairs  and  Justice;  the  Min- 
istry of  the  Interior  and  Agriculture,  one;  Posts  and 
Telegraphs,  one;  Finance  and  Public  Works,  one; 
Education  and  Worship,  one,  and  one  for  War. 


134  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

The  Royal  Family. — The  reigning  Prince  is  Ni- 
cola I.  Petrovitch  Nyegosh,  born  October  7  (O.  S., 
September  25),  1841,  proclaimed  Prince  of  Tsrnagora 
and  the  Brdas,  as  successor  to  his  uncle,  Danilo  I. 
the  first  Prince  of  Montenegro  (Tsrnagora  and  the 
Brdas),  on  August  14,  1860. 

Religion. — The  whole  population  of  Montenegro 
belongs  to  the  Servian  Orthodox  Church,  with  the 
exception  of  about  10,000  Roman  Catholics  and 
14,000  Mohammedans. 

Montenegro  is  divided  into  two  Orthodox  dioceses, 
Cettinye  and  Ostrog.  Cettinye  is  subdivided  into  8 
proto-presbyteries  with  84  parishes,  Ostrog  has  9 
proto-presbyteries  with  75  parishes.  Both  Sees  are 
united  in  the  person  of  the  Bishop  of  Cettinye,  who 
is  the  Metropolitan  of  the  Servian  Orthodox  Church 
of  Montenegro.  The  clergy  under  him  numbers  180. 
There  are  117  Orthodox  churches  in  Montenegro. 

The  Orthodox  clergy  is  maintained  by  the  govern- 
ment, out  of  a  budgetary  item  called  church  tax, 
levied  on  each  head  of  a  household. 

The  Roman  Catholics  have  10  parishes  with  13 
priests  and  a  Roman  Catholic  Archbishop  of  Antivari. 
These  parishes  are  all  situated  on  the  lake  of  Scutari 
in  the  coastal  district.  In  the  same  district  are  also 
situated  the  19  Mussulman  communities  and  33  ex- 
pounders of  the  Koran  under  the  authority  of  a 
Mufti. 

Education. — Schooling  in  Montenegro  is  free  and 
in  elementary  grades  compulsory.  There  is  one 
gymnasium,  or  classical  college,  conferring  the  degree 
of  B.A.,  at  Cettinye,  a  seminary  for  orthodox  priests, 


PRINCIPALITY   OF   MONTENEGRO     135 

and  120  lower  schools,  and  a  girls'  special  high  school 
with  about  100  resident  pupils. 

There  are  printing-presses  at  Cettinye  and  Niks- 
hitch  issuing  books  and  newspapers.  The  first 
printing-press  in  this  land  was  set  up  at  Podgoritza, 
in  1492,  and  flourished  until  it  was  suppressed  by 
the  Turks  in  the  sixteenth  century,  along  with  all 
other  printing-presses  throughout  Serb  lands. 

Justice,  Crime,  and  Pauperism. — The  judicial  code 
formulated  by  V.  Bogishitch,  founded  on  the  Servian 
code  and  codifying  old,  unwritten  tradition  and  laws, 
is  gradually  coming  into  usage. 

The  justice  of  the  peace  of  each  community  is  also 
its  mayor.  There  are  56  district  courts,  each  pre- 
sided over  by  the  head  of  the  district,  or  Capetan, 
and  five  town  courts;  those  are  all  the  courts  of  first 
instance. 

There  are  courts  of  second  instance,  or  courts  of 
appeal,  in  the  five  principal  towns,  and  a  supreme 
court  called  the  Veliki  sud  in  Cettinye,  which  is  the 
court  of  highest  and  final  instance  and  has  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  whole  principality.  Grace  for  criminal 
offences  lies  with  the  Prince,  but  crime  in  general  is 
rare. 

There  is  no  workhouse,  but  the  Government  annu- 
ally gives  employment  on  public  works  to  those  who 
are  poor. 

Finance 

Budget. — The  Budget  estimates  for  1907  showed 
the  revenues  to  amount  to  2,980,000  perper  (francs), 
derived  chiefly  from  land  taxes,  customs,  and  monop- 


136  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

olies.    The  expenditure  was  2,888,893  perper  (francs), 
covering : 

Prince's    civil  list    and    appanages  of    royal 

princes 180,000  perper. 

Justice 150,000 

Interior 580,913 

Foreign  Affairs 150,881 

Finance 448,759 

War 200,000 

Worship  and  Instruction 197,847 

The  Public  Debt  amounts  to  1,G57,192  perpers. 

Money. — Since  1908  Montenegro  has  her  own 
monetary  system.  One  perper  equals  one  franc, 
divided  into  a  hundred  centimes.  There  are  three 
banks,  the  Bank  of  Montenegro,  at  Cettinye,  and 
banks  at  Podgoritza  and  Nikshitch. 

The  Army. 

The  army  of  Montenegro  is  Montenegro.  A  con- 
tinual state  of  war  through  five  hundred  years  has 
given  Montenegro  the  character  of  a  military  camp, 
and  has  made  the  Montenegrin-Serbians  a  people 
of  soldiers,  and  one  may  also  say  a  people  of  aris- 
tocrats— each  clan  of  the  Tsrnagora  can  trace  its 
blood  and  its  armorial  bearings  beyond  the  thirteenth 
century. 

It  is  natural  under  these  circumstances  that  the 
Montenegrin  army  should  include  every  man  able  to 
bear  arms;  and  the  spirit  still  holds  of  the  old,  un- 
written law:  "Whoever  once  shows  himself  to  be  a 
coward   shall  never  more  carry  arms,  shall  wear   a 


PRINCIPALITY  OF   MONTENEGRO     137 

woman's  apron,  and  shall  be  chased  out  of  the  coun- 
try by  women." 

The  rule  is  that  all  men  from  thirty  to  forty-five 
years  of  age  serve  in  the  first  line  of  the  army;  all 
from  sixteen  to  twenty  and  from  forty-five  to  sixty  in 
the  second  line.  The  estimated  strength  of  the  army 
in  time  of  war  is  38,000  men,  of  whom  25,000  belong 
to  the  first  line. 

Organisation. — In  time  of  peace  there  is  a  school 
battalion  of  690  men,  who  remain  four  months  under 
instruction,  giving  place  to  a  new  batch.  Besides 
this,  there  is  a  school  battery  instructing  batches  of 
100  men  for  six  months.  In  war  time  the  army  com- 
prises 58  battalions  of  infantry  with  nine  batteries, 
each  possessing  four  Krupp  7  cm.  guns  and  two 
field-guns. 

The  higher  formations  are  the  nine  brigades. 

The  Montenegrin  Army  possesses  40,000  Russian 
ordinance  repeating  rifles,  pattern  "Moskovska," 
with  30,000,000  cartridges;  also  39,900  Berdan, 
20,000  Werndls,  20,000  Martinis,  12,000  Krnkas, 
5,000  Wenzels,  all  single-loading  rifles,  and  29,000 
revolvers;  36  mountain  guns,  12  field-guns,  also 
other  muzzle-loading  and  breech-loading  guns,  how- 
itzers, and  mitrailleuses. 

There  are  also  two  batteries  of  quick-firing  field- 
guns,  Russian  army  pattern;  and  an  order  has  been 
placed  for  a  number  of  Maxim  guns,  which  would 
be  specially  adaptable  to  the  Montenegrin  country. 
The  uniform  of  the  Montenegrin  Army  is  the  national 
costume;  however,  the  Prince  has  the  design  of 
abolishing  the  national  dress  and  putting  the  guards 


138  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

and  the  school  troops  into  a  uniform  copied  from  one 
of  the  European  armies.  The  ambulance  service 
consists  of  a  detachment  sent  from  the  Russian  army. 

Command  and  Officers. — The  chief  of  the  army  is 
the  Prince,  and  the  commander  of  the  newly  created 
troops  is  the  Heir-Apparent.  A  Russian  officer  has 
lately  arrived  in  Montenegro,  under  order  of  the 
Tsar,  to  supervise  the  expenses  of  the  war  budget 
and  the  reorganization  of  the  Montenegrin  Army. 
Of  the  750  officers,  fifty  have  been  educated  in  Rus- 
sian, French,  and  Italian  military  schools. 

Mobilisation. — The  traditional  organisation  of  the 
army  has  heretofore  made  it  possible  that  the  army 
should  be  mobilised  and  concentrated  within  three  or 
four  days.  Every  man  has  his  own  equipment  and 
arms  in  his  own  house,  and  the  old  method  of  mob- 
ilisation simply  consists  in  a  bugle-call  to  arms;  thus, 
in  all  mobilisations  the  troops  were  gathered  in  the 
districts  and  on  the  complete  war  footing  within  four 
hours  after  the  call.  In  1887,  within  eight  hours, 
10,000  men,  one- third  of  the  army,  were  ready  for 
action  on  the  Herzegovian  border. 

The  innovations  being  now  steadily  introduced  will 
greatly  encumber  this  swiftness  of  handling. 

Instruction. — Until  1896  no  service  regulation  ex- 
isted in  Montenegro.  Tactics  were  based  on  tradi- 
tional axioms  formed  by  five  hundred  years  of  suc- 
cessful experience.  In  1896  a  field-service  regula- 
tion, adapted  from  those  of  the  Russian  and  the 
Italian  armies,  was  introduced ;  the  masses,  however, 
and  the  leaders  are  opposed  to  this  imposition,  and 
hold  to  the  old  traditional  tactics  as  being  those  best 


PRINCIPALITY  OF   MONTENEGRO     139 

suited  to  the  relief  and  character  of  that  mountainous 
country.  The  principle  of  those  old  tactics  is  the 
defensive,  with  retarded  opening  of  fire  at  short  dis- 
tances, and  sudden,  energetic  offensive  attack  at  the 
moment  when  the  enemy  is  shaken  by  the  fire. 

Spirit  and  Discipline. — The  warlike  spirit  is  the 
same  as  it  has  been  these  five  hundred  years,  uncon- 
querable. 

For  a  successful  defence  of  the  country,  the  military 
forces  of  Montenegro  are  more  than  sufficient,  and 
their  value  as  an  army  of  invasion  of  a  neighbouring 
State  should  not  be  underestimated. 

Products  and  Industries 

The  land  is  owned  by  the  cultivators  of  the  soil, 
who  live  and  work  in  house  communities  (Zadrugas). 
There  are  no  large  estates. 

The  high  plateaux  grow  barley,  rye,  and  oats;  the 
plains  of  Nikshitch  and  Zhablyak  produce  wheat  and 
Indian  corn.  On  the  littoral,  oranges,  lemons,  al- 
monds, and  figs  are  raised.  In  the  valleys,  basins, 
and  dolinas  the  inhabitants  are  agriculturalists, 
growing  maize,  potatoes,  grain,  melons,  grapes, 
apples,  pears,  prunes,  nuts,  and  tobacco.  In  the 
alluvial  and  coast  territories  of  the  south  the  prod- 
ucts include  figs,  olives,  grapes,  grain,  pomegranates, 
almonds,  mulberries,  quinces,  sumach  wood,  and  an- 
other wood  called  "macchia,"  oleander,  laurel,  myr- 
tle, erik,  spartium,  and  stone  oak. 

In  the  higher  regions  the  population  live  chiefly 
by  the  raising  of  cattle  on  a  system  similar  to  that  in 
Switzerland  in  the  high  Alpine  districts. 


140  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

The  live  stock  is:  500,000  sheep  and  goats,  60,000 
cattle,  8,000  swine,  3,000  horses,  30,000  bee-hives. 

The  manufacture,  selling,  and  exportation  of  to- 
bacco are  a  State  monopoly  exploited  since  1903  by 
an  Italian  syndicate. 

An  Italo-Montenegrin  syndicate,  recently  formed 
to  prospect  for  minerals,  has  discovered  beds  of  man- 
ganese and  iron  pyrites. 

Commerce. — The  exports  of  Montenegro  for  1906 
were  valued  at  $1,041,665.  They  include  cattle, 
sheep,  goats,  wool,  hides,  skins  for  glove  manufac- 
ture, furs,  sumach  wood  for  dying  purposes,  chry- 
santhemums for  insect  powder,  tobacco,  wood  for 
walking-sticks,  smoked  mutton  (castradino),  cheese, 
dried  and  smoked  fish,  and  sardines  (scorances), 
honey,  beeswax,  olive-oil,  wine,  and  fruits. 

The  imports  were  about  $1,250,000,  and  included 
salt  from  Turkey  (salt  is  a  government  monopoly) 
of  $55,000  a  year;  petroleum  from  Russia;  maize, 
cottons,  hardware,  arms,  ammunition,  sugar,  coffee, 
rice,  and  grain. 

Lines  of  Communication. — There  is  a  good  wagon 
road  from  Cattaro  to  Cettinye,  from  Riyeka  via  Pod- 
goritza  and  Danilograd  to  Nikshitch,  another  from 
Riyeka  to  Antivari  via  Virbazar,  one  from  Antivari 
to  Dulcigno,  a  road  from  Podgoritza  via  Plavnitza  to 
the  lake  of  Scutari,  one  from  Nikshitch  to  Kolashin 
and  the  Moratcha  valley.  All  of  the  other  roads  are 
bridle  paths  and  mountain  trails.  An  electrical  rail- 
road is  in  course  of  construction  from  Antivari,  on  the 
Servian  Sea  (Adriatic),  to  Nikshitch,  of  about  100 
miles  in  length.     There  are  528  miles  of  telegraph 


PRINCIPALITY   OF   MONTENEGRO     141 

lines,  twenty-three  offices,  two  radio-telegraphic  sta- 
tions, and  twenty-one  post-offices. 

The  Montenegrin  Government  possesses  one  war- 
ship (old),  a  gift  of  Russia,  one  steamer  of  659  tons; 
there  are  sixteen  sailing  boats  with  a  tonnage  of  3,647 
tons,  and  three  small  steamers  on  the  lake  of  Scutari. 


CHAPTER   IV 


SERVIAN    LANDS    UNDER    FOREIGN 
DOMINATION 

1.    BOSNIA    AND    HERZEGOVINA    (UNDER    AUSTRIA- 
HUNGARY) 


B 


OSNIA  forms  the  northern 
and  broader  part  of  a  trian- 
gular area  of  territory,  of  which 
Herzegovina  forms  the  narrowing 
southern  point,  imbedded  in  the 
Serb  Block  between  Croatia  and 
Dalmatia  on  the  west,  Croatia- 
Slavonia  on  the  north,  the  kingdom 
of  Servia  and  Old  Servia  on  the  east,  Montenegro  on 
the  south-east,  and  piercing  through  to  the  Adriatic 
Sea,  with  the  extreme  southern  point  where  Dalmatia 
thins  down  to  the  mere  coast  line  at  Klek  north  of 
Ragusa  and  Sutorina  south  of  Ragusa.  The  area  is 
19,702  square  miles. 

Population. — The  population  is  entirely  Servian  in 
race  and  language,  and  numbered,  in  1905,  1,568,092 
(828,190  males  and  739,902  females).  In  addition  to 
this  number,  there  has  been  a  regular  garrison  of 
Austro-Hungarian  troops  of  22,000,  which  has  been 
raised  since  the  annexation  of  October,  1908,  and 
stands  at  50,000  men.  There  are  also,  making  up 
the  administrative,  official,  and  other  non-Bosnian 

142 


BOSNIA  AND   HERZEGOVINA         143 

temporary  class  of  inhabitants,  70,848  Austro-Hun- 
garians,  comprising  all  officials,  high  and  low,  of  the 
administration,  the  judges  in  all  the  courts  of  justice, 
police,  Roman  Catholic  clergy,  merchants,  and  other 
exploiters  of  various  kinds. 

There  are  fifty-one  towns  and  markets,  with  a 
population  reaching  2,000,  and  four  towns  with  over 
10,000:  Serayevo,  the  capital,  having  38,083  inhabi- 
tants; Mostar,  14,370;  Banyaluka,  13,556;  and 
Dolna-Tuzla,  10,227. 

In  1875  the  provinces  of  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina, 
after  the  example  of  their  neighbour  and  sister-State, 
Servia,  who  had  succeeded  in  reconquering  her  long- 
lost  liberty,  rose  in  insurrection  against  the  Turkish 
rule.  They  had  already  won  important  victories  and 
wrested  concessions  from  their  Ottoman  masters; 
their  complete  autonomy  was  indeed  in  sight,  being 
guaranteed  to  them  by  the  Constantinople  Conference 
of  1876,  and  more  recently  by  the  San  Stefano  treaty, 
when  in  1878  the  Congress  of  Berlin  convened  for  the 
purpose  of  deliberating  upon  the  results  of  the  Russo- 
Rumano-Serbo-Montenegrin  war  against  Turkey, 
and  the  modification  of  the  treaty  of  San  Stefano, 
which  the  four  Powers  above  named,  following  the 
lead  of  Russia,  had  just  concluded  with  the  Sultan. 

The  great  European  Powers  at  the  Berlin  Con- 
gress, actuated  by  motives  and  interests  not  to  be  here 
examined,  arranged  by  a  combination  of  mutual  con- 
cessions to  abrogate  the  treaty  of  San  Stefano,  and  to 
ignore  the  concessions  hard-won  at  the  sword's  point 
from  Turkey  by  Bosnia-Herzegovina,  and  at  the 
request  of  Austria  to  hand  over  to  Austria-Hungary 


144  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

for  administration  and  occupation  those  Servian 
lands  which  she  had  been  unable  to  conquer  during 
centuries  of  armed  attempt  to  subdue  and  hold.  The 
people  of  those  countries  opposed  the  invasion  of  the 
Austro-Hungarian  troops,  who  were  only  able  after 
four  years  of  bloody  fighting  to  enter  and  impose  their 
administration  upon  the  population. 

Austria-Hungary  has  recently  (October  5,  1908) 
annexed  the  provinces  outright,  in  violation  of  the 
treaty  promises  made  at  the  Berlin  Congress. 

Administration 

The  administration  during  the  last  thirty  years 
has  been  entirely  Austro-Hungarian,  the  inhabitants 
having  been  allowed  no  share  in  public  affairs  ex- 
cept the  payment  of  taxes  and  furnishing  of  recruits 
to  the  Austro-Hungarian  Army.  The  administration 
is  exercised  by  an  office  in  Vienna,  called  the  "Bos- 
nian Bureau,"  forming  a  special  department  of  the 
Ministry  of  Finance  common  to  Austria  and  Hun- 
gary. The  bureau  controls  the  government  seated 
at  Serayevo  Bosnia,  which  has  four  departments: 
Finance,  Interior,  Justice,  and  Public  Works. 
The  Austro-Hungarian  Government  has  established 
throughout  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  an  elaborate 
and  complete  police  system,  penetrating  every  de- 
partment of  life,  public  and  private,  such  as  is  un- 
known in  any  other  country. 

The  provinces  are  promised  a  constitutional  gov- 
ernment with  a  diet,  consisting  of  ecclesiastical  mem- 
bers and  deputies  elected  on  the  basis  of  so-called 
universal  suffrage;  that  suffrage,  however,  on  account 


BOSNIA  AND   HERZEGOVINA        145 

of  arbitrary  determination  of  the  number  of  repre- 
sentatives, according  to  nationality  or  religion,  does 
not  anywhere  in  Austria-Hungary  mean  equal  repre- 
sentation. The  territory  is  divided  into  six  counties 
as  superior  administrative  divisions  and  fifty-four 
sub-divisions. 

Finance. — In  1907  the  revenue  for  expenditure  in 
the  administration  of  these  lands  was  60,840,391 
crowns,1  the  amount  expended,  60,811,717  crowns. 

The  money  system  and  weights  and  measures  are 
the  same  as  in  Austria-Hungary. 

The  most  important  of  the  financial  institutions  is 
the  Bosnian  Bank  at  Serayevo.  A  Hungarian  mort- 
gage bank  for  Bosnian  business  has  just  been  founded 
at  Buda-Pesth. 

The  Army. — Military  service  is  compulsory  and 
under  the  general  military  law  of  Austria-Hungary. 
Austria  levies  in  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  four  in- 
fantry regiments,  each  of  five  battalions— four  "line" 
and  one  "depot";  one  rifle  battalion  and  four  sec- 
tions of  train ;  no  artillery  and  no  cavalry ;  a  total  of 
7,100  men  on  a  peace-footing.  All  of  these  troops  are 
quartered  outside  of  the  country,  in  Austria  or  in  the 
Magyar  towns  of  Hungary.  Military  expenditure  is 
5,947,200  crowns  annually.  The  permanent  garrison 
is  composed  of  non-native  troops,  all  Germans  and 
Magyars,  and  numbers  thirty-four  battalions  and 
twelve  batteries  of  artillery.  The  troops  constitute 
the  Fifteenth  Austro-Hungarian  iVrmy  Corps,  and 
are  organised  in  small  brigades  of  two  or  three  bat- 
talions for  "local  warfare."  2 

1  A  crown  is  about  twenty-one  cents.     2  See  "  Statesman's  Year  Book." 


146  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

Religion. — There  are  mainly  three  religious  creeds 
in  Bosnia-Herzegovina.  Of  the  total  population 
43  per  cent,  belong  to  the  Serb-Orthodox  Church, 
35  per  cent,  are  Serb-Mohammedans,  21  per  cent, 
are  Roman  Catholics — among  the  Roman  Catholics 
being  counted  all  of  the  foreign  officials  and  the  army 
of  occupation,  or,  rather,  the  army  of  annexation,  as 
it  has  recently  become — 0.5  per  cent,  of  the  inhabi- 
tants are  Jews,  0.2  per  cent.  Protestants. 

The  Mohammedan  population  are  the  descendants 
of  the  old  Servian  feudal  landlords  of  Turkish  days, 
and  still  live  under  the  agricultural  regime  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  Their  highest  religious  authority  is 
the  Sheik-ul-Islaam  at  Constantinople,  who  is  locally 
represented  by  a  legate  called  the  "Reis-el-Ulema." 
The  expenses  in  those  lands  of  the  Mohammedan 
cult — of  mosques,  schools,  hospitals,  baths,  etc. — are 
met  by  the  income  from  the  entailed  religious  landed 
estates  called  "vacouf."  The  vacouf  is  at  present 
administered  by  the  Austro-Hungarian  Government. 

The  Roman  Catholic  population  are  found  mostly 
around  Travnik  and  Mostar;  the  non-native  Roman 
Catholics  are  Austro-Hungarians. 

From  the  time  of  the  Turkish  invasion  in  the  fif- 
teenth century  up  to  the  Austrian  occupation  in  1878 
the  religious  life  of  the  Bosnian  Roman  Catholics 
centred  in  the  Franciscan  monasteries,  with  their 
bishop  at  Travnik.  Those  Franciscan  monks  were 
looked  on  with  kindness  by  the  other  creeds,  with 
whom  they  were  not  unsympathetic  in  their  dealings ; 
but  since  1878  the  administration  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  interests  has  been  taken  out  of  the 


BOSNIA  AND   HERZEGOVINA        147 

hands  of  the  Franciscans  and  delivered  over  to  the 
Jesuits.  The  present  head  of  Catholic  authority  in 
those  lands  is  the  Archbishop  of  Serayevo  and  the 
Bishops  of  Mostar,  Banyaluka,  and  Trebigne. 

The  Orthodox  Serbs,  forming  numerically  the 
strongest  element  of  the  population,  have  as  religious 
head  the  Orthodox  Metropolitan  at  Serayevo  and  the 
two  Bishops  of  Dolna-Tuzla  and  Mostar. 

Education. — The  schooling  in  Bosnia-Herzegovina 
is  in  general  poor;  the  lower  schools  are  all  denomi- 
national. 

Those  which  are  Roman  Catholic  are  subventioned 
by  the  Austro-Hungarian  Government.  The  Mo- 
hammedan schools  are  supported  by  the  vacouf 
foundations,  and  the  Orthodox  schools  have  no  sub- 
vention, but  are  kept  up  by  the  Orthodox  Church 
communities.  These  Church  communities  exist  in 
all  Serb  lands,  and  are  the  centres  of  national  remem- 
brance and  hope. 

Education  is  not  compulsory,  though  it  is  free  in 
the  lower  grades. 

In  1907  there  were  379  elementary  (denomina- 
tional) schools,  Catholic  and  Orthodox  Christian, 
and,  of  lower  Mohammedan  schools,  940.  There 
were  also  five  gymnasia,  one  Realschule,  or  modern 
school;  one  military  school  for  the  sons  of  Austro- 
Hungarian  officers  and  government  employees;  also 
eleven  girls'  schools,  nine  commercial  schools,  three 
seminaries  for  the  education  of  priests — Roman  Cath- 
olic, Serb-Orthodox,  and  Serb-Mohammedan  (Law 
school) ;  three  training  colleges  for  teachers,  one  for 
each  creed.     Technical  and  industrial  schools  exist 


148  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

in  several  of  the  larger  towns.  There  has  been  some 
slight  attempt  at  introducing  the  teaching  of  prac- 
tical agriculture  in  certain  village  schools. 

Justice,  Crime,  Pauperism. — There  is  an  upper 
court  of  justice  in  Serayevo,  six  district  courts  and 
fifty-one  county  courts  of  first  instance.  All  judges 
in  all  courts  are  imported  from  Austria-Hungary.  In 
the  district  and  county  courts  two  "assessors"  are 
allowed  from  the  inhabitants  to  "advise"  the  judge 
in  criminal  causes.  Judges  are  appointed  by  the 
Austro-Hungarian  Government,  and  are  removable 
by  advice  to  the  Government  by  the  Austro-Hungarian 
political  officials  in  Bosnia. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  starvation;  during  1902 
three  thousand  families,  numbering  about  ten  thou- 
sand persons,  were  starving  and  obliged  to  emigrate. 
They  went  into  Servia.  The  yearly  emigration  is  very 
large.  There  are  no  reliable  statistics  available  for 
pauperism  and  crime. 

Of  the  inhabitants,  1,400,000,  or  88  per  cent.,  are 
connected  with  agriculture;  2.13  per  cent,  are  land- 
lords, owning  vast  estates;  33.45  per  cent,  are  free 
agriculturalists,  owning  land;  38.25  per  cent,  are 
"Kmets,"  whose  condition  makes  them  practically 
serfs;  11.26  per  cent,  are  "Kmets,"  who  possess  cer- 
tain free  holdings  in  addition  to  the  land  to  which 
they  are  bound;  3.25  per  cent,  are  otherwise  occu- 
pied in  agriculture  (hired  labourers). 

The  taxes  and  various  charges  due  to  government 
and  landlord  (collected  for  the  landlord  by  the  gov- 
ernment) amount  to  from  75  per  cent,  to  80  per  cent, 
on  the  average,  and  not  infrequently  to  90  per  cent. 


BOSNIA  AND   HERZEGOVINA         149 

and  95  per  cent,  of  the  agriculturalists'  gross  returns. 
It  is  a  system  which  is  steadily  dispossessing  and 
pauperising  the  agricultural  classes,  driving  them 
from  their  land  to  the  profit  of  the  big  estates. 

Products  and  Industries 

The  chief  food  staples  of  the  population  are  milk, 
sheep-cheese,  maize,  rice,  and  mutton. 

Of  the  total  area,  2,335,894  hectares  are  arable 
land.  Of  this,  1,030,246  hectares  are  ploughed  soil, 
929,226  are  pastures,  331,246  are  meadows,  34,413 
are  gardens,  and  5,760  are  vineyards. 

The  harvest  average  is  17,178,000  metric  quintals, 
the  half  of  which  is  maize  and  fodder;  5,500,000 
metric  quintals  of  grain,  2,700,000  metric  quintals  of 
vegetables  and  fruit,  650,000  metric  quintals  of  po- 
tatoes, 350,000  metric  quintals  of  sugar-beets,  grown 
near  Doboj,  32,000  metric  quintals  of  tobacco. 

The  southern  valleys  of  Herzegovina  grow  almonds, 
chestnuts,  figs,  and  pomegranates.  The  plum  har- 
vest is  240,000  metric  quintals.  The  grape  harvest  is 
64,000  metric  quintals. 

There  are  in  Bosnia-Herzegovina  245,000  horses 
and  mules,  1,417,000  cattle,  3,230,000  sheep,  1,447,- 
000  goats,  662,000  pigs. 

The  horses  are  small,  being  crossed  with  Arab 
blood.  They  are  hardy,  and  make  good  pack-horses 
and  mountain  climbers.  Sheep  and  goats  are  mostly 
bred  in  Herzegovina,  where  the  town  of  Livno  is  the 
great  wool  market.  Most  of  the  pigs  and  fowls  are 
raised  in  the  Posavina  district.  There  are  140,000 
beehives  in  the  country. 


150  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

Among  the  hills  and  mountains  game  is  plenteous, 
both  big  and  small.  The  swamps  abound  in  water- 
fowl. 

About  50  per  cent,  of  the  total  area  comprises 
woods  and  forests.  Of  this  wooded  area,  58  per 
cent,  is  covered  by  deciduous  trees;  42  per  cent,  by 
cone-bearers  of  the  pine  order. 

Of  the  2,580,000  hectares  of  forest  land,  2,029,000 
are  State  property;  551,000  belong  to  the  Moham- 
medan vakouf. 

About  the  inhabited  places  and  the  parts  traversed 
by  roads,  trees  are  sparse,  and  where  once  cut  down 
do  not  again  appear.  A  characteristic  of  the  Bosnian 
formation  is  that  deforestation  develops  a  Carst  or 
bleak  limestone  surface,  the  soil  being  quickly  washed 
away  by  the  rains.1  Where  the  land  has  not  been 
denuded  of  trees,  the  soil  remains  and  yields  fine 
harvests. 

Mining. — Bosnia-Herzegovina  is  rich  in  mineral 
and  ore  deposits.  The  mining  industry  was  very  im- 
portant in  this  region  during  antiquity  and  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  but  under  Turkish  rule  it  was  entirely 

1  A  remarkable  instance  of  this  action  is  to  be  observed  on  the  Romanya 
Planina,  near  Serayevo,  which  was  the  scene  of  a  picturesque  incident  at 
the  time  of  the  Austrian  occupation;  the  Austrian  troops  erected  several 
blockhouses  on  the  Romanya  Planina,  and  it  was  thought  advisable  to 
utilise  the  spot  for  the  cultivation  of  vegetables  for  the  garrison.  It  was 
intended  also  in  this  way  to  give  a  lesson  in  scientific  agriculture  to  the  good 
inhabitants  of  the  country,  who  had  repeated  to  the  Austrians  the  popular 
Bosnian  saying,  "  If  you  disturb  the  trees  and  boulders  on  our  mountains, 
the  earth  becomes  cursed  ground."  The  soldiers,  in  scorn  of  such  super- 
stition, were  set  to  work  to  remove  the  many  large  stones  which  littered 
the  land;  they  had  hardly  finished  that  hard  and  arduous  clearing  when 
a  storm  of  rain  swept  over  the  country;  the  Bora  blew,  and  behold  the  place 
was  again  covered  even  more  thickly  than  before  with  stones  and  boulders, 
both  huge  and  small!  The  surface  had  simply  melted  down,  baring  a  new 
layer  of  the  same  formation. 


BOSNIA   AND   HERZEGOVINA        151 

abandoned,  and  the  very  location  of  the  mines  was 
forgotten.  Coal  deposits  are  being  again  worked  at 
Senitza  and  Krtchka,  near  Dolna-Tuzla.  These  two 
mines  produced,  in  1900,  2,296,432  metric  quintals  of 
coal,  with  a  working  staff  of  807  miners. 

The  copper  deposits  near  Senyiaka  are  beginning 
to  be  worked.  Manganese  ore  is  worked  at  Chelian- 
ovich  and  Vogoshtcha,  and  produced  50,000  metric 
quintals  in  1900.  Chrome  is  found  at  Douboshtina, 
gold  in  the  Vrbas  and  Lashva  Rivers,  near  Travnik. 
There  are  silver  mines,  the  famous  mines  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  at  Srebenitza,  on  the  Servian  border; 
they  were  the  property,  in  1400,  of  despot  Stephan 
Lazarovich.  There  are'  lead  mines  at  Olovo,  salt 
springs  at  Siminhan  and  Dolna-Tuzla  (Tuzla  means 
salt,  in  Turkish).  The  Austro-Hungarian  salt  mo- 
nopoly produced  from  these  springs  125,000  metric 
quintals  of  salt  in  1900. 

Mercury  is  found  near  Foynitza  and  Kreshevo,  and 
yielded  thirty-eight  metric  quintals  in  1900.  Deposits 
of  antimony  and  of  gypsum  exist  at  various  points 
in  Bosnia.  Crude  oil  has  been  found  near  Roshanye. 
There  are  many  mineral  springs  near  Srebrenatza, 
hot  sulphur  waters  near  Gata,  at  Jlidze,  and  at  Ban- 
yaluka,  and  bitter-salt  springs  near  Dolna-Tuzla. 

Industries. — Prior  to  the  Austrian  occupation  the 
entire  industry  of  the  country  was  the  home  or  cottage 
industry,  including  carpet-weaving,  embroidery,  nee- 
dle-work, cotton  and  silk  gossamer  weaving,  inlaid 
metal  work,  gold  and  silver  filigree,  and  arms,  es- 
pecially swords,  wrought  finely  and  inlaid  with  silver 
and  other  metals. 


152  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

The  Austro-Hungarian  Government  brought  in 
factory  industries  which  are  in  foreign  hands  en- 
couraged and  protected  by  many  privileges.  These 
privileges  are  such  that  the  foreign-owned  industries 
become  private  monopolies.  There  is  at  Serayevo  a 
carpet  and  tapestry  factory,  where  the  famous  hand- 
made French  "Gobelin"  make  is  imitated  with 
machinery.  Iron  and  steel  works  are  at  Zenitza  and 
Varosh,  an  oil-refining  plant  at  Brod.  In  addition  to 
those  are  various  factories  for  making  alcohol,  am- 
monia, soda,  soap,  candles,  paper,  cloth,  leather, 
liquor,  sugar,  beer;  four  Government  tobacco  fac- 
tories, and  the  Electrical  Carbid  Works. 

Lines  of  Communication. — There  are  679  miles  of 
railroad,  nearly  all  narrow-guage.  The  principal 
line  is  Brod-Serayevo-Mostar-Gabela-Gravosa  (346 
miles). 

The  post-offices,  all  military,  are  89  in  number; 
the  military  telegraph  offices,  159.  There  are  also 
213  miles  of  telephone  lines. 

Commerce. — The  value  of  the  exports  to  Austria- 
Hungary  was  estimated  in  1907  to  be  112,100,703 
crowns,  and  that  of  the  imports  to  114,492,195 
crowns.  The  exports  comprise  raw  products,  wood, 
coal,  animals,  hides,  wool,  wax,  prunes,  grains,  min- 
erals, and  tobacco.  The  imports  are  food  stuffs, 
flour,  manufactured  articles.  Of  the  exports,  97  per 
cent,  are  to  Austria-Hungary,  and  the  entire  imports 
are  from  Austria-Hungary. 


DALMATIA 


153 


2.    DALMATIA    (UNDER    AUSTRIA) 

THE  Austrian  province  of 
Dalmatia,  called  the  "King- 
dom" of  Dalmatia,  is  a  strip  of 
territory  extending  for  390  kilo- 
metres along  the  eastern  shore  of 
the  Adriatic,  with  a  width  varying 
from  two  to  seventy  kilometres. 
It  is  the  extreme  western  boun- 
dary of  the  Serb  Block.  The 
northern  boundary  touches  Croatia,  while  on  the 
east  it  is  flanked  by  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  the 
narrow  southern  confine  edging  on  Montenegro. 
Tongues  0f  Herzegovina  reach  out  to  the  sea-shore 
across  this  long,  narrow  stretch  of  coastwise  land, 
transsecting  it  at  two  points,  at  Kleck  and  Sutorina. 
These  strips  of  territory  were  ceded  to  Turkey  by 
old  Ragusa  (Dubrovnik),  with  the  design  of  interpos- 
ing barriers  between  herself  and  Venetian  Dalmatia. 
Twenty  larger  islands  and  numerous  smaller  ones, 
with  many  small  projections  called  "scogliae,"  lie 
thickly  strewn  along  the  entire  water-front.  This 
water-front,  of  520  kilometres,  is  rocky  and  precipitous 
in  character,  and  is  broken  by  promontories  and  penin- 
sulas, forming  a  large  number  of  bays  and  straits. 

Population. — According  to  the  census  of  1900  the 
population  numbered  593,789,  with  a  yearly  increase 
of  1.26  per  cent.  To  every  square  kilometre  there  are 
forty-six  inhabitants,  with  a  proportion  of  1,000  males 
to  968  females.    The  yearly  emigration  is  large. 


154  THE  SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

Of  the  population,  96.65  per  cent,  are  Serbs,  2.61 
per  cent,  are  Italians  residing  in  the  towns,  the  islands, 
and  the  ports. 

Towns  rich  in  historic  association  from  ancient 
days  front  on  the  sea-coast  line :  Zara,  Sebenico  (Shi- 
benik),  Trau,  Spalato  (Splet),  whose  sea  front  is  to- 
day formed  by  the  ancient  walls  of  the  palace  of  the 
Roman  Emperor  Diocletian;  Ragusa  (Dubrovnik), 
to  whose  walls  still  cling  fragments  of  the  proud  and 
powerful  little  republic,  respected  by  the  Turks  and 
Venetians,  and  reduced  only  by  modern  French  and 
Austrian  invaders.  All  of  these  towns  of  the  Adriatic 
had  great  commercial  importance  up  to  1815,  the  time 
when  they  were  incorporated  into  Austria.  Since 
then  general  trade  has  declined  and  shrivelled  to 
merely  local  coastwise  traffic,  until  to-day  they  are 
more  or  less  dead — interesting  chiefly  as  monuments 
of  a  flourishing  and  magnificent  past. 

Administration 

Dalmatia  is  an  Austrian  province  called  a  "King- 
dom," whose  king  is  the  Emperor  of  Austria.  He 
rules  by  means  of  a  Governor,  assisted  by  a  local  diet 
including,  besides  the  Roman  Catholic  Archbishop 
and  the  Orthodox  Bishop  of  Zara,  forty-one  mem- 
bers, elected  by  direct  ballot  in  the  towns  and  indi- 
rect voting  in  the  country  districts.  This  provincial 
diet  is  able  to  legislate  on  matters  which  do  not 
depend  upon  the  central  Parliament  at  Vienna.  It 
regulates  the  local  affairs  relating  to  taxes,  cultiva- 
tion of   the  soil,  education  (under  restrictions  con- 


DALMATIA  155 

tained  in  laws  passed  by  the  Vienna  Parliament), 
charity  institutions,  and  public  works. 

Dalmatia  sends  eleven  members  to  the  Reichsrath, 
or  Austrian  Parliament,  in  Vienna.  The  voting  for 
them  is  by  so-called  universal  suffrage,  which  is  con- 
trolled, however,  by  the  system  of  districts,  resulting 
in  the  return  of  the  majority  of  representatives  for 
the  minority  of  the  electorate. 

The  country  is  divided  into  thirteen  administrative 
districts,  under  "district  captains."  Most  of  the 
officials  are  German,  sent  from  Austria. 

The  Army. — Dalmatia  furnishes  to  the  Austrian 
common  army  eight  battalions  of  infantry,  one  regi- 
ment (four  battalions)  to  the  Austrian  "Landwehr," 
with  one  squadron  of  Landwehr  cavalry.  Dalmatia  is 
also  a  recruiting  territory  for  the  Austro-Hungariun 
navy. 

Religion. — The  Roman  Church  is  represented  by 
the  Archbishop  of  Zara  and  five  Bishops — of  Seben- 
ico,  Spalato,  Lesina,  Ragusa,  and  Cattaro.  The 
Servian  Orthodox  Church  is  represented  by  the  two 
Bishops  of  Zara  and  Cattaro;  they  are  placed  by  the 
Austrian  Government  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Metropolitan  residing  at  Czernovitz,  in  Galitzia,  on 
the  Russian  border,  distant  more  than  one  thousand 
miles. 

Education. — Dalmatia  holds  six  Roman  Catholic 
theological  seminaries,  subventioned  by  the  State,  for 
the  training  of  priests;  the  Serb-Orthodox  Church 
has  no  seminaries,  and  its  parishes  are  frequently 
unable  to  procure  a  priest.  There  are  two  schools 
for  the  training  of  secular  teachers,  one  male,  one 


156  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

female;  five  "gymnasia,"  with  classical  courses; 
two  "reale"  schools,  or  high  schools,  non-classical; 
and  one  agricultural  school.  There  are  367  elemen- 
tary public  schools  and  twenty  private  schools. 

Products  and  Industries 

Of  the  total  area,  10.7  per  cent,  are  lands  devoted 
to  agriculture,  46.3  per  cent,  to  grazing,  6.4  per  cent, 
to  vineyards,  and  3.7  per  cent,  to  garden  and  meadow 
land.  There  are  only  30.9  per  cent,  of  underwood 
or  brushwood  and  low  forest. 

In  1901  the  main  crop  was  695,000  metric  quintals 
of  grain  foods,  especially  maize;  32,000  hectolitres  of 
peas,  beans,  and  other  pod  vegetables;  192,800  metric 
quintals  of  potatoes.  The  entire  harvest  was  not 
sufficient  for  the  nourishment  of  the  population;  it 
was  necessary  to  cover  the  lack  of  food  by  imports. 

Only  olive-oil,  66,300  metric  quintals,  and  wine, 
1,355,800  hectolitres,  met  the  domestic  demand  and 
showed  some  surplus  for  export.  Cherries,  almonds, 
melons,  figs,  pomegranates,  and  quinces  are  the 
principal  fruits.  Dalmatia  produced  16,700  metric 
quintals  of  tobacco.  Large  fields  of  wild  chrysan- 
themums are  cultivated  for  the  manufacture  of  insect 
powder  to  the  amount  of  5,100  metric  quintals.  The 
grass  lands  gave  2,550  metric  quintals  of  hay;  the 
forests  yielded  445,000  cubic  metres  of  wood.  There 
is  not  much  cattle  or  horse  raising  on  account  of  the 
scarcity  of  fodder. 

In  1901  the  country  possessed  26,368  horses, 
38,506  donkeys,  108,216  cattle,  88,039  sheep,  187,676 
goats,  and  56,748  pigs. 


DALMATIA  157 

Dalmatia  is  poor  in  game,  either  big  or  small, 
except  in  regard  to  water- fowl  in  the  Neretva  (Narenta) 
delta. 

Bees  are  largely  cultivated,  on  the  islands  especially, 
the  total  number  of  hives  being  24,413.  Silk  cocoons 
amounted  to  20,000  kilogrammes.  The  sea-fishing 
industry  employed  8,461  fishermen  and  1,955  boats. 
The  fish,  molluscs,  and  sponges  put  on  the  market  in 
1901  brought  2,417,000  crowns. 

The  mineral  products  included  that  year  1,320,955 
metric  quintals  of  brown  coal,  especially  from  the 
mines  on  Monte  Promino.  Limestone  and  marble 
quarries  are  found  in  Dalmatia;  sea-salt  is  a  monop- 
oly belonging  to  the  Austrian  Government,  and  pro- 
duced at  Arbe,  Pago  and  Stagno,  in  1901,  69,563 
metric  quintals. 

Industries. — There  is  barely  any  industry  beyond 
home-crafts  for  local  employment,  with  the  exception 
of  the  manufacture  of  liqueurs,  Maraschino  and  Ro- 
soglio.  Attached  to  these  factories  are  glass-blowing 
works  for  the  production  of  the  necessary  bottles. 
There  are  a  few  chalk  and  brick  kilns,  oil  presses,  flour 
mills,  soap  factories,  and  fish-preserving  concerns. 

In  several  ports  are  small  yards  for  the  construc- 
tion of  fishing  boats  and  other  small  coast  craft.  The 
population  furnishes,  as  it  has  during  many  centuries 
past,  the  finest  sailors  in  the  Mediterranean,  cool, 
determined,  hardy,  and  steady.  The  number  of 
registered  boats  of  all  kinds  in  the  province  is  7,832, 
of  42,109  tons,  with  19,330  sailors.  At  the  sixty-seven 
ports  there  were  50,366  calls  during  the  year,  with 
7,320,344   tons.     There  are   326  kilometres   of  rail- 


158 


THE   SERVIAN    PEOPLE 


ways  in  the  country,  149  post-offices,  110  telegraph 

offices,  and  three  banks,  besides  two  savings  banks 
and  sixteen  loan  institutions. 


3.    CROATIA-SLAVONIA    (UNDER    HUNGARY) 

THE  territory  of  those  semi- 
autonomous  provinces,  desig- 
nated the  "United  Kingdoms  of 
Croatia  and  Slavonia,"  occupies, 
with  [stria,  the  extreme  north-west- 
ern region  of  the  Serb-inhabited 
Block,  clasping  and  partly  encir- 
cling north-western  Bosnia,  form- 
ing an  arm  whose  elbow  touches 
Trieste  at  the  head  of  the  Adriatic  Sea,  whose  fore- 
arm extends  down  the  coast  to  the  northern  limits  of 
Dalmatia,  and  whose  upper  arm  and  shoulder  lie 
eastward  across  southern  Hungary  up  to  the  Dan- 
ube River  above  Belgrade,  Servia.  The  total  area 
of  Croatia-Slavonia  is  16,423  square  miles. 

Population. — The  census  of  1901  gave  the  popula- 
tion as  2,400,766,  and  the  garrisons  counted  as  2,416,- 
304,  of  whom  1,209,533  were  males  and  1,206,971  fe- 
males, averaging  56.8  persons  per  square  kilometre. 
There  are  1,478,825  Serbo-Croats  who  are  Roman 
Catholics,  612,604  Serbo-Croats  who  are  Orthodox, 
and  12,810  Serbo-Croatian  "Uniats"  (Orthodox 
Christians  recognising  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope), 
making  the  Serbo-Croats  a  total  of  87  per  cent,  of 
the  population.  There  are  134,000  Germans,  90,000 
Magyars,  and  some  few  Italians  and  Jews. 


CROATIA-SLAVONIA  159 

Administration  and  Political  Organisation 

When  the  "Ausgleich"  was  made  in  1867  between 
Austria  and  Hungary,  Croatia  had  to  choose  between 
remaining  an  Austrian  province  ruled  in  the  German 
tongue  by  Germans  or  accepting  the  offer  of  Hungary 
of  semi-autonomy  and  dependency  upon  Hungary. 
The  arrangement  between  Hungary  and  Croatia  forms 
a  treaty  called  the  "Nagoda,"  made  in  1868,  to  which 
several  clauses  were  added  in  1873.  The  Croats 
stipulated  that  the  official  language  for  all  interior 
affairs  should  be  Serbo-Croat. 

The  administration  was  settled  to  be  under  a 
"Banus"  as  Lord  Lieutenant,  appointed  by  the 
Emperor  of  Austria  as  King  of  Hungary.  The  Ban 
is  responsible  to  the  King,  to  the  Hungarian  Prime 
Minister,  and  to  the  Croatian  Diet. 

The  Ban  is  ;i>>i>t<<l  by  ;i  (iovcrnment  committee 
called  the  "Croatian  Government,"  forming  three 
autonomous  departments:  Interior,  Justice  and  Cults, 
and  Public  Instruction.  This  board  of  government 
is  represented  in  the  Hungarian  Cabinet  by  one 
minister  called  "Minister  for  Croatia-Slavonia." 
The  financial  administration  is  in  the  hands  of  six 
Directors  of  Finance. 

The  legislative  body  of  Croatia  is  the  Diet,  which 
has  the  right  to  legislate  on  questions  of  interior  ad- 
ministration, cult,  public  instruction,  and  justice, 
except  in  all  matters  affecting  naval  and  marine 
affairs  and  naturalisation  and  citizenship. 

The  Croatian  Diet  has  one  hundred  and  twelve 
members  elected  for  a  period  of  three  years — in  the 


160  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

country  districts  by  indirect  election  and  in  the  towns 
by  direct  ballot. 

The  members  include,  in  addition  to  the  elected 
representatives,  the  Catholic  Archbishop  of  Zagreb, 
the  Orthodox  Servian  Patriarch  of  Carlo vitz,  six 
Bishops,  and  the  Dean  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Ca- 
thedral of  Zagreb,  the  eight  Zhupans  who  are  the  ad- 
ministrative heads  of  the  eight  "comitats,"  or  coun- 
ties, the  "Comes"  of  Turopolye,  and  the  eight 
"Magnates,"  or  feudal  lords,  who  are  mostly  of 
foreign  origin. 

Of  these  members  of  the  Croatian  Diet,  all  the 
Archbishops  and  Bishops  and  the  Roman  Catholic 
Dean  of  Zagreb  and  three  Croatian  Magnates  have 
seats  in  the  Hungarian  House  of  Magnates  at  Buda- 
Pesth,  while  forty  members  of  the  Croatian  Diet  sit 
in  the  Hungarian  Lower  House,  or  Reichstag. 

Croatia  is  separated  administratively  into  eight 
counties,  the  heads  of  which  are  the  Vice-Zhupans. 
There  are  seventy  subdivisional  districts  and  seven- 
teen so-called  Royal  Free  towns,  with  elected  auton- 
omous magistrates  or  mayors. 

All  questions  relating  to  Commerce,  Industry, 
Mining,  Agriculture,  Public  Works,  Communications, 
Post  and  Telegraph,  Finance  and  War  depend  di- 
rectly upon  the  Hungarian  ministries  or  legislation. 

Budget. — Of  the  total  revenue  of  Croatia,  56  per 
cent,  is  paid  into  the  Hungarian  treasury,  the  remain- 
ing 44  per  cent,  being  the  only  amount  available  to 
meet  the  expenses  of  the  Autonomous  Croat  admin- 
istration. In  1901  the  total  revenue  was  44,683,723 
crowns,  which,  after  deducting  the  expenses  of  collec- 


CROATIA-SLAVOXIA  161 

tion  and  official  manipulation,  left  a  net  revenue  of 
36,120,150  crowns,  so  that  the  56  per  cent,  to  Hun- 
gary was  20,227,284  crowns  and  the  remaining  44 
per  cent,  for  Croatia  was  15,892,864  crowns.  The 
Croatian  apportionment,  having  to  cover  all  adminis- 
trative and  public  affairs,  educational,  etc.,  in  the 
country,  cannot  ever  come  near  to  being  sufficient. 
The  Croatian  exchequer  is  in  a  chronic  state  of 
deficit.  In  1904  the  internal  Croatian  budget  called 
for  an  expenditure  of  20,600,000  crowns,  creating  for 
that  year  a  deficit  of  3,800,000  crowns.1 

Credit. — There  are  in  Croatia  198  financial  institu- 
tions. Among  these  are  seventy-five  savings  banks, 
twenty-one  ordinary  banks,  and  one  mortgage  bank. 
Zagreb,  Esseg,  and  Zengg  have  chambers  of  com- 
merce. 

Justice. — There  are  nine  Royal  courts  and  sixty- 
nine  District  Courts  of  Justice  of  first  instance,  one 
court  of  second  instance  called  the  "Banial  table," 
and  a  Supreme  Court  called  the  "Table  of  Septem- 
virs,"  with  seven  judges. 

The  Army. — Croatia  and  Slavonia  furnish  to  the 
common  Austro-Hungarian  army  one  army  corps, 
the  Thirteenth,  composed  of  two  infantry  divisions, 
each  of  two  brigades,  the  brigade  of  two  infantry 
regiments  of  four  battalions  each ;  one  cavalry  brigade 
of  two  cavalry  regiments,  each  of  six  squadrons;  one 

1  It  is  interesting  to  contrast  with  these  figures  the  income  of  the  free 
Kingdom  of  Servia  with  an  area  and  population  of  about  the  same  extent 
and  the  same  race.  The  income  of  the  Servian  Kingdom  was,  in  1907, 
95,000,000  francs,  with  a  well-balanced  expenditure,  leaving  a  revenue 
surplus  of  41,000  franca.  Servia  with  no  emigration  and  no  paupers, 
Croatia  with  an  enormous  emigration  of  uneducated  and  unskilled  labor 
and  a  population  practically  starving. 


162  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

artillery  brigade  consisting  of  one  corps  artillery 
regiment,  armed  with  howitzers,  and  three  divisional 
field  artillery  regiments,  and  all  the  other  necessary 
army  corps  field  establishments. 

To  the  Hungarian  Honved  (militia)  Croatia  and 
Slavonia  furnishes  one  infantry  division  of  two  bri- 
gades and  four  regiments.  This  division  has  the 
Serbo-Croat  language  as  language  of  command,  and 
is  called  the  "Domobrantzi"  (Croatian  militia). 

Religion. — In  Croatia  the  227  parishes  of  the  Ser- 
vian Orthodox  Church,  which  is  independent  and  has 
for  head  the  Servian  Patriarch  of  Karlovitz,  are  div- 
ided, besides  the  diocese  of  the  Patriarch  as  Arch- 
bishop, into  two  more  dioceses  or  bishoprics.  There 
are  eighteen  orthodox  monasteries,  which  are  mostly 
situated  in  the  Frushka  Gora. 

The  "Uniates"  (Orthodox  Christians  who  rec- 
ognise the  Pope)  have  one  Bishopric,  dependent 
on  the  Roman  Catholic  Archbishop. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  one  Archbishop 
and  three  Bishops.  There  are  forty-seven  Roman 
Catholic  monasteries  and  convents. 

Under  Archbishop  Strossmayer  the  Church  in 
Croatia  and  Slavonia  obtained  from  the  Pope,  Leo 
XIII,  the  restoration  of  the  Paleo-Slovene  language, 
instead  of  Latin,  in  the  Roman  Catholic  services  and 
mass.  That  old  Slavonic  church  language  had  been  in 
use  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  Croatia  from  the 
introduction  of  Christianity  up  to  the  twelfth  century, 
and  in  some  localities  had  never  been  abandoned. 

Education. — In  Croatia-Slavonia  are  1,442  public 
elementary  schools,  with  2,670  teachers  and  210,544 


CRO  ATI  A-SLAVONI A  1 63 

pupils.  Of  the  population,  44  per  cent,  are  able  to 
read  and  write.  There  are  nine  gymnasia,  or  classical 
high  schools,  and  nine  real  gymnasia,  or  modern  high 
schools,  both  giving  degrees  of  B.iV.,  with  329  pro- 
fessors and  6,898  students;  one  forest  school ;  one  girl 
lyceum;  six  normal  schools,  mixed;  and  three  Roman 
Catholic  seminaries  for  priests  and  one  orthodox 
priestly  seminary.  The  language  of  the  schools  up  to 
1874  was  generally  German,  and  practically  no  serious 
educational  institutions  existed,  but  since  that  date, 
as  a  result  of  the  attainment  of  the  semi-autonomy 
which  is  the  present  Croat  regime,  and  of  the  bit- 
terly fought  insistence  of  the  inhabitants,  there  has 
been  better  educational  means,  and  the  language 
of  the  schools — the  people's  language — the  Serbo- 
Croat. 

At  Zagreb  there  is  a  university,  founded  in  1875, 
with  86  professors,  934  students;  among  them  were, 
in  1905,  14  women  students. 

There  is  an  agricultural  school  at  Krishevatz,  a 
nautical  school  at  Buccari,  five  higher  and  four  lower 
schools  of  industry  and  commerce,  with  7,224  pupils. 
There  are  also  one  State  and  five  municipal  music 
schools,  four  schools  for  the  blind,  deaf,  and  mute, 
and  four  prison  schools  connected  with  the  four  State 
prisons. 

There  are  at  Zagreb  also  a  national  library,  a 
national  museum,  and  an  art  school — the  Croatian 
South  Slavonic  Academy  of  Science — with  which  are 
affiliated  several  scientific  societies.  One  hundred 
and  fourteen  newspapers  and  periodicals  appear  in 
Croatia-Slavonia ;  they  are  published  either  in  Serbo- 


164  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

Croat  (Latin  alphabet),  in  Serb  (Cyrillic  alphabet), 
in  German,  and  several  in  the  Magyar  language. 

Products  and  Industries 

The  Serbo-Croat  population  is  chiefly  agricultu- 
ral. The  Germans,  with  the  exception  of  some 
few  colonists  who  are  agriculturalists,  are  petty  man- 
ufacturers and  industrial  skilled  labourers  and  em- 
ployees on  the  great  landed  estates.  The  garrison 
are  German  and  Magyar,  as  are  also  many  of  the 
Government  officials.  The  Italians  live  in  the  coast 
towns.  Of  the  population,  85  per  cent,  are  agri- 
cultural. In  the  districts  north  of  the  Kulpa  the  pro- 
ductive area  is  94  per  cent. ;  in  the  Carst  region  it  is 
81.5  per  cent.  Of  these  areas,  32  per  cent,  is  arable 
and  garden  land;  38  per  cent,  is  woodland,  especially 
oak  and  beech  forests;  23  per  cent,  is  pasture  and 
grazing  land,  and  1  per  cent,  is  devoted  to  vineyards. 

The  principal  products  are  3,700,000  metric  quin- 
tals of  wheat,  1,400,000  metric  quintals  of  rye, 
700,000  metric  quintals  of  barley,  900,000  metric 
quintals  of  oats,  5,200,000  metric  quintals  of  maize 
and  all  kinds  of  vegetables,  beets,  flax,  hemp,  colza, 
woods  (oak  and  beech),  prunes,  wine  (especially  in 
Syrmia),  and  tobacco  near  Pozhega.  In  Slavonia 
there  is  much  cattle  and  horse  raising,  and  droves 
of  hogs  roam  in  the  oak  forests.  Many  fowl  are 
produced  there  also,  but  not  many  sheep.  In  1905 
there  were  in  the  country  311,359  horses,  908,780 
cattle,  595,902  sheep,  22,418  goats,  882,952  hogs, 
2,459  donkeys,  1,002  mules,  3,349,208  fowl,  and  96,- 
334  beehives. 


CROATIA-SLAVOXIA  165 

The  rivers  abound  in  fish,  and  in  the  marshes 
about  Esseg  a  considerable  culture  of  leeches  is 
carried  on.  Of  all  countries  of  the  Serb  Block,  Croatia 
is  perhaps  the  least  rich  in  mineral  and  ore  deposits. 
There  are  some  sulphur  mines  near  Radoboye,  iron- 
ore  mines  near  Roude,  coal  near  Rasinye,  in  North- 
west Croatia,  and  brown  coal  at  different  points 
between  the  Drava  and  Kulpa  Rivers  and  in  the 
Frushka  Gora. 

Industries. — The  industries  in  the  towns  are  in  the 
hands  of  petty  manufacturers  and  handicraftsmen; 
in  the  country  there  are  only  domestic  and  cottage 
industries.  These  are  especially  the  spinning  and 
weaving  of  wool,  silk,  and  linen.  The  peasants  weave 
the  "Tchellims"  carpets  similar  to  those  woven  in 
all  the  other  Servian  lands.  In  Syrmia  about  17,000 
men  and  14.5,000  women  weave  the  fine  silk  and 
cotton  texture  called  "misir."  These  gauzes  fre- 
quently contain  silver  and  gold  threads,  are  crinkly  in 
surface,  and  are  equal  to  the  very  finest  Indian  weaves 
of  the  same  nature.  These  textures  are  also  woven 
throughout  all  the  other  Servian  lands.  In  the  former 
military  confines  where  the  great  forests  are,  the  cot- 
tage industry  chiefly  concerns  wooden  manufacture, 
including  not  only  fine  wood  carvings,  but  articles 
such  as  barrels,  tubs,  wooden  implements,  bowls, 
dishes,  etc. 

The  large  factory  industry  is  only  a  new  develop- 
ment. There  are  110  such  factories  employing  9,862 
workmen.  They  manufacture  cement,  glass,  paper, 
furniture,  wood  flooring  (parquetry),  machinery, 
leather,  stoneware   pottery,  tannin,  bricks,  wooden- 


166  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

ware,  and  tobacco.  There  are  also  steam  saw-mills, 
cotton  and  woollen  mills,  flour  mills,  several  small 
ship-building  yards,  and  23,000  spirit  distilleries. 
The  number  of  the  petty  manufacturers  in  the  towns 
is  30,000. 

Commerce. — The  exports  of  Croatia  include  grain, 
wool,  wine,  etc.  The  littoral  exports  chiefly  wood.  Sla- 
vonia  exports  grains,  hides,  oxen,  hogs,  honey,  plums, 
apples,  slivovitza  (or  plum  brandy) ,  and  bee's- wax, 
eggs,  and  fowls. 

Manufactured  articles  of  luxury  and  art  form  the 
chief  import. 

Croatia  possesses  ten  small  seaports  with  an  almost 
purely  local  commerce;  they  are  Buccari,  Porto-Re, 
Szelce,  Novi,  Zengg,  Cirkvenitza,  San  Giorgio,  Sti- 
nizza,  Jablanacz,  and  Carlopago.  The  coastwise  traf- 
fic is  in  the  hands  of  the  Hungaro-Croatian  Steam- 
ship Company.  The  traffic  on  the  rivers  Danube  and 
Drava  up  to  Legrad,  and  on  the  Sava  and  Kulpa  up 
to  Karlstadt,  is  carried  on  by  the  Hungarian  Danube 
Lloyd  Steamship  Company. 

Lines  of  Communication. — As  Croatia  south  of  the 
Kulpa  has  few  railways,  the  traffic  is  mainly  by  wag- 
on road.  Three  of  these  wagon  roads  are  Karlovatz 
(Karlstadt) -Ryeka  (Fiume),  Karlovatz-Zengg,  Kar- 
lovatz-Porto-Re.  The  Hungarian  State  Railroad  runs 
lines  from  Gross-Kanisha  through  Zagreb  (Agram) 
to  Ryeka  (Fiume),  from  Zagreb  to  Dobrlin,  from 
Zagreb  to  Brod-Dalya-Esseg,  Brod-Vincovce-Zemun 
(Semlin) ;  in  all,  1,808  kilometres.  Zagreb  and  Esseg 
possess  short  lines  of  street  railways. 


BAN  AT  AND   BATCHKA  167 


4.    BANAT   AND    BATCHKA    (UNDER    HUNGARY) 

BANAT  and  Batchka  represent  to-day  only  an 
old  geographical  expression  for  the  Hungarian 
"Comitats"  (counties)  of  Batch-Bodrog,  Torontal, 
Temesh,  and  Krasso.  A  part  of  the  old  military  con- 
fines have  also  been  absorbed  into  these  comitats. 
They  form  the  northern  limits  of  the  great  Serb- 
inhabited  Block  and  comprise  southern  Hungary  up 
to  the  Maros  River,  being  bounded  on  the  west  by 
the  southern  trend  of  the  Danube  River  and  on  the 
east  by  the  Transylvanian  Carpathians;  while  on 
the  south  they  join  the  northern  border  of  Servia, 
from  which  they  are  separated  only  by  the  Danube 
in  its  eastern  course. 

The  area  is  14,459  square  miles. 

The  Banat  and  Batchka,  before  being  finally  ab- 
sorbed into  Hungary  in  18G0,  formed  the  Austrian 
Crownland  called  the  "Servian  Voyvodina  (Duchy) 
and  the  Banat  of  Temesh,"  with  their  separate  ad- 
ministration called  "Landesregierung"  of  the  Servian 
Voyvodina  and  Temesh  Banat,  under  a  Lord  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor. It  was  divided  into  five  adminis- 
trative districts. 

The  population  of  this  area  (1901)  is  composed  of 
758,862  Servians,  forming  a  solid  mass  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  territory,  the  former  "Servian  Voyvodina," 
and  in  the  other  portions,  the  Banat  of  Temesh,  in- 
termingled sparsely  with  560,229  Roumanians  in  the 
Carpathian  region,  449,557  Germans  and  344,133 
Magyars  in  the  northern  districts.   Of  these,  1,300,000 


Map  showing  the 


i  rritory. 


BANAT  AND   BATCHKA  169 

ment  sent  agents  to  the  non- Magyar  districts,  who 
took  by  force  large  numbers  of  the  poorer  children 
from  their  parents  and  carried  them  away  to  Magyar 
localities,  where  they  were  brought  up  as  Magyars 
and  not  allowed  to  know  either  their  parents  or  their 
religion.  The  attention  of  Europe  was  in  time  drawn 
to  these  practices,  and  aroused  such  protests  that 
these  outrages  have  during  the  past  few  years  been 
discontinued. 

Products. — These  lands  form  vast  plains  rich  with 
alluvial  soil  up  to  the  slopes  of  the  Carpathians  on 
the  east.  They  yield  plenteous  harvests  of  wheat, 
barley,  rye,  maize,  oats,  rice,  tobacco,  colsa,  nuts, 
fruits,  wine,  and  honey.  They  are  famous  for  their 
fine  horses  and  cattle.  The  rivers  Maros,  Theiss, 
Danube,  and  their  tributaries  abound  in  many  kinds 
of  fish,  including  the  sturgeon.  The  hilly  and  moun- 
tainous districts  are  rich  in  minerals  and  ore  deposits 
— gold,  silver,  lead,  zinc,  iron,  copper,  and  coal. 
Among  many  mineral  springs  the  most  famous  are 
the  Roman  Baths  of  Mehadia  on  the  Roumanian 
border. 


170 


THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 


5.  old  servia stara  srbiya  (under  turkey- 

in-europe) 


IS 


Rashka 


V\  r^\  /~*7  (~\S^  Servia  (Vilayet  of  Kos- 
^kJJ*^J?£  \J  sovo  with  Sandjak  of  Novi- 
Bazar,  and  parts  of  the  vilayets 
of  Monastir  and  Salonika),  join- 
ing Servia  on  the  north,  Bosnia, 
Montenegro,  and  Albania  on  the 
west  and  south-west  and  on  the 
eastern  side  the  region  of  the  river 
Struma,  forms  the  southernmost 
limit  of  the  Serb-inhabited  Block 
of  territory.  These  lands,  lying  in 
central  and  north-western  Mace- 
donia, are  part  of  Turkey. 

There  are  no  reliable  statistics 
of  the  population,  but  the  "States- 
man's Year  Book"  places  the 
number  of  inhabitants  of  Kossovo 
Vilayet  at  1,038,000.  The  local 
church  records  show  711,556  Ser- 
vians and  250,000  as  estimated  to  be  the  number  of 
Mohammedan  and  Roman  Catholic  Albanians.  The 
number  of  Servians  on  the  Servian  Church  registers  of 
the  Serb  part  of  the  vilayet  of  Monastir  is  314,000. 
The  only  statistics  available  for  the  Vilayet  of  Salonika 
(population,  1,127,000)  state  700,000  of  the  inhabi- 
tants to  be  "Christian."  Of  these,  525,000  are  Ser- 
vians and  Bulgarians,  the  rest  Greeks  and  Vlachs. 
Of  the   inhabitants,   427,000   are    Mohammedans — 


Macedonia 


OLD   SERVIA— STARA   SRBYIA        171 

either  of  Asiatic  or  Slavonic  origin,  and  in  the  town  of 
Salonika  there  are  a  large  number  of  Jews. 

In  the  diocese  of  Doyran,  in  Macedonia,  Vilayet 
of  Salonika,  near  the  Bulgarian  border,  40  per  cent, 
of  the  Slavonic  population  are  under  the  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople  and  call  themselves  Servians;  60  per 
cent,  are  under  the  Bulgarian  Exarch  and  call  them- 
selves Bulgarians. 

In  the  district  of  Yenidje-Vardar,  on  the  Vardar 
River,  Vilayet  of  Salonika,  north-wrest  of  Salonika, 
88  per  cent,  of  the  Slavs  belong  to  the  Patriarchat, 
and  in  general  call  themselves  Serbs  or  Macedo- 
Slovenes — terms  which  are,  as  used,  interchangeable; 
12  per  cent,  are  under  the  Bulgarian  Exarch  and  call 
themselves  Bulgarians.  In  the  Sandjak  of  Drama, 
Vilayet  of  Salonika,  eastward  beyond  the  river 
Struma,  75  per  cent,  of  the  Slavs  are  under  the 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople  and  call  themselves  Ser- 
vians and  Macedo-Slovenes,  while  25  per  cent,  are 
under  the  Exarchat  and  call  themselves  Bulgarians. 
In  the  district  of  Salonika,  Vilayet  of  Salonika,  60  per 
cent,  of  the  Slavs  are  under  the  Patriarchat,  calling 
themselves  Servians  or  Macedo-Slovenes,  while  40 
per  cent,  are  under  the  Exarchat,  calling  themselves 
Bulgarians. 

Administration. — The  administration  is  Turkish, 
the  officials  being  Turks  appointed  from  Constanti- 
nople. The  Christians  have  little  or  no  part  in  their 
own  government.  Speaking  in  general,  the  Christian 
population  in  these  regions  are  still  in  a  condition  of 
serfdom,  and  their  oppression  under  the  late  Turkish 
absolute  regime,  notorious  throughout  the  world,  was 


172  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

usually  referred  to  as  the  "Macedonian  Problem." 
The  present  "New"  Turkish  State  promises  the 
reforms  so  long  needed  for  the  regeneration  of  the 
people  and  the  economic  development  of  the  coun- 
try's resources. 

Hitherto,  under  Turkish  rule,  the  Christians  have 
not  been  allowed  to  carry  arms  or  to  serve  in  the 
army,  but  instead  have  been  obliged  to  pay  an  "army 
tax." 

Education. — The  Servian  Church  communities  sup- 
port 284  Servian  schools  in  Old  Servia. 

The  Servian  schools  are  the  most  ancient  educa- 
tional institutions  in  Turkey,  and  were  the  only  ones 
there  from  the  fourteenth  to  the  eighteenth  century. 
They  were  connected  with  the  Serb  monasteries  and 
churches.  During  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  cen- 
turies these  schools  increased  much  in  number  and 
scope.  In  1878,  after  the  Serbo-Turkish  war,  the 
Turkish  Government  closed  many  of  the  Serb  schools 
in  Turkey,  and  in  all  such  places  other  schools  were 
founded  by  the  Bulgarians.  Prior  to  that  time  there 
had  not  existed  any  Bulgarian  schools  in  Macedonia. 
During  the  last  fifteen  or  twenty  years  only  has  the 
Ottoman  Government  permitted  the  reopening  of 
Servian  schools. 

Of  the  present  283  Servian  schools,  266  are  primary 
— 227  for  boys  and  39  for  girls ;  eight  are  high  schools ; 
one  a  girls'  handicraft  school;  five  are  incomplete 
gymnasia  (classical) ,  two  of  these  being  for  girls  and 
three  for  boys ;  one  complete  classical  school  for  boys 
at  Salonika ;  one  normal  school  for  teachers  at  Uskub 
(Scoplyia) ;  and  one  seminary  for  priests  at  Prisren. 


OLD   SERVIA— STAR  A   SRBIYA       173 

Of  these  schools,  209  are  in  the  Vilayet  of  Kossovo, 
28  in  Salonika,  43  in  Monastir  Vilayet,  two  at  Scu- 
tari, and  two  at  Constantinople. 

Products. — The  earth  of  these  lands  is  rich  both  as 
regards  soil  and  minerals,  but  the  conditions  of  misery 
and  chronic  disorder  hitherto  prevailing  have  blocked 
the  way  to  every  kind  of  normal  development.  The 
mines  of  Old  Servia  were  famous  in  antiquity  and 
the  Middle  Ages,  and  with  those  of  Spain  were  the 
chief  source  of  gold  and  silver  for  Europe.  Old  rec- 
ords show  that  the  gold  and  silver  mines  near  Novo 
Brdo,  in  Kossovo,  close  to  the  present  Servian  border, 
furnished  to  the  Servian  ruler  in  the  early  fifteenth 
century  an  annual  income  of  about  $480,000  (about 
200,000  ducats).  From  the  time  of  the  Turkish  con- 
quest all  mining  ceased,  and  only  recently  has  that 
industry  begun  to  be  revived  in  Turkey.  It  is  hoped 
that  under  a  liberal  and  constitutional  government  a 
better  day  is  dawning  for  the  people  of  Old  Servia 
and  their  country. 

Lines  of  ( 'ommunication. — The  great  natural  north- 
to-south  route  from  the  Danube  to  the  /Egean  Sea, 
through  the  valley  of  the  Morava  and  Vardar  Rivers, 
traverses  this  country,  cutting  through  some  of  its 
richest  districts.  The  railway  making  junction  at 
Zibevtehe  on  the  Servian  border  with  the  Serb  part  of 
the  Orient-Express  line  lies  through  this  valley  to 
Salonika. 

Architecture  and  Monuments. — There  are  in  Mace- 
donia many  beautiful  mediaeval  churches,  monas- 
teries, and  other  buildings  with  ruined  castles,  and 
they  all  date  from  the  Old  Servian  Empire  and  Kin 


174  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

doms,  as  do  also  all  of  the  people's  songs,  traditions, 
and  their  whole  poetic  expression. 

Kossovo  was  the  heart  and  centre  of  that  old  em- 
pire and  the  scene  of  the  far-famed  battle-field  where 
its  final  overthrow — after  one  hundred  and  fifty  years' 
fight— was  begun  in  that  terrific  shock  of  June  15, 
1389,  when  the  whole  force  of  the  Servian  nation 
gathered  in  defence  against  the  whole  huge  strength 
and  myriad  numbers  of  the  invading  Turkish  hosts. 

SERB    POPULATION  ESTIMATED   FOR     DECEMBER,    1909    (oil    bcUlS 

of  yearly  percentage  of  increase) 

A.       INDEPENDENT   SERVIAN   LANDS 

Kingdom  of  Servia 2,923,000 

Principality  of  Montenegro 280,000 

B.      SERVIAN   LANDS   UNDER    FOREIGN    DOMINATION 

Bosnia-Herzegovina  (under  Austria-Hungary)     .     .     1,713,000 

Dalmatia  \  ,      ,      .        .  . 067,000 

T  .  .  >•  (under  Austria) 

Istna         )  ' 133,000 

Croatia-SIavonia       )  ,      ,     _  .....      2,334,000 

BanatandBatchkaf  (^der  Hungary)  ^^ 

Old  Servia  (under  Turkey) 1,376,000 

Total  for  the  Serb  race 10,298,000 


PART    III 


CIVILISATION    AND     CULTURE 

FROM    EARLY    TIMES    UP 

TO    THE    P  It  E  S  E  N  T 


CHAPTER  V 

SOCIAL  ORGANISATION  AND  CONDITIONS 
PRIOR   TO    ABOUT    1100.1 

THE  period  referred  to  as  "pre-Balkan"  in 
Serb  history  is  the  time  before  the  year  600  A.D. 
Prior  to  that  date  there  had  always  been,  during 
the  Christian  era  and  no  doubt  earlier,  a  small, 
steady  inpouring  of  Slavs  from  the  Volga  and  other 
regions  north  of  the  Carpathians,  quietly  coming 
to  take  up  their  homes  in  the  Balkan  Peninsula 
among  the  remnants  of  the  Slavs  of  antiquity 
and  the  few  scattered  colonists  of  other  races  and 
relics    of   past    invasions,  which  formed    the  sparse 

1  Those  students  of  political  administration  and  civilisation  whose  in- 
terest in  Servian  conceptions  of  justice  and  liberty,  as  exemplified  in  the 
institutions  created  by  a  free  Servian  State,  may  be  awakened  to  further 
inquiry,  are  referred,  for  an  exhaustive  examination  of  the  Code  Doushan 
and  other  historical  documents,  to  the  works  in  German,  Russian,  French, 
and  Servian  upon  which  is  based  the  following  short  survey  of  mediaeval 
Servian  civilisation  and  culture.     Foremost  among  these  are: 

The  works  of  Stoyan  Xovakovich:  "  People  and  Land  in  the  Old  Servian 
State,"  "Pronyari  and  Bashtinci,"  "Selo,"  and  the  "Code  of  the  Servian 
Emperor,  Stephan  Doushan,"  written  in  Servian  and  translated  into  Rus- 
sian and  German. 

Studies  of  agrarian  and  economic  conditions,  etc.,  by  Dr.  Vlainatz, 
written  in  Servian  and  German. 

"Monumenta  Serbica  spectantia  historiam  Serbiae,  Bosnae  et  Ragusii,' 
edited  by  F.  Miklosich,  Vienna,  1858. 

Glasnik,  organ  of  the  Servian  scientific  societies. 

Spomenik,  organ  of  the  Servian  Royal  Academy  of  Science,  Belgrade. 

Rad,  organ  of  the  Croatian  Academy  of  Science,  Zagreb. 

"Servian  Monuments  in  the  Archives  of  Ragusa,"  edited  by  Prince 
Medo  Poutchich. 

177 


L78  THE  SERVIAN    PEOPLE 

populations  <>f  those  regions  up  t<>  tin*  early  years 
of  the  seventh  centuiy.  Then  occurred  the  greal 
migration  of  Servians  into  those  lands,  which 
they  entered  as  conquerors  in  organised  tribes  or 
Plemes. 

As  has  already  been  seen  (Par!  T,  page  89),  the 
Slav  peoples  from  the  most  ancient  times  were  organ- 
ised in  communities  of  Mood-relationship :  Zadrugas, 
including  all  relatives  in  the  first,  second,  third,  and 
fourth  degrees;  Hod,  a  group  of  Zadrugas;  and 
Pleme  or  Clan,  the  highest  formation,  including  all 
the  others. 

Lauded  properly  was  considered  as  (he  hereditary 
possession  of  the  community,  and  was  worked  in 
common.  Land  being  plenteous  and  free,  no  real 
properly  rights  existed.  What  was  recognised  was 
the  right  to  plant  where  one  had  cleared  and  to  har- 
vest where  one  had  sown. 

The  growth  of  the  Xadruga  usually  developed  into 
the  village,  which  resulted  sometimes  in  villages 
forming  a  single  Rod  bearing  the  name  of  a  single 
family,  as  the  "  Brankovitche,"  etc.  The  village  did 
not,  however,  always  represent  a  single  family  and 
its  relatives,  but  the  people  of  a  village  always  be- 
longed to  the  same  Pleme. 

The  Pleme  or  Clan  (used  also  as  "tribe")  is 
the  representative  body  politic,  and  of  para- 
mount importance  socially,  as  well  as  politically, 
among  all  Slavs  in  general  and  especially  the 
Serbs.  Each  Pleme  occupied  its  own  separate 
territory,  and  formed  a  political  and  territorial 
division. 


EARLY  SOCIAL  CONDITIONS        179 

After  600  A.  D.,  in  the  great  and  final  migration 
of  the  Serb  people  into  the  Balkan  Peninsula,  when 
they  came  in  organised  Clans  or  Plemes  to  settle 
their  new  land,  the  territory  occupied  by  the  Pleme 
was  called  a  "Zhupa."  The  centre  of  the  Zhupa 
was  the  "Grad"  (the  fortified  place).  The  head  or 
supreme  authority  of  a  Zhupa  was  elected,  and  was 
called  "Zhupan,"  who  in  time  came  by  custom  to  be 
chosen  from  one  special  family;  and  later,  the  right 
to  furnish  the  man  to  be  elected  as  Zhupan  grew  to 
be  vested  in  the  same  family. 

All  of  the  affairs  of  the  Zhupa  or  Pleme  were  in 
the  hands  of  an  assembly  composed  of  the  Stare- 
shinas  or  heads  of  the  Rods  (or  gentes). 

The  Emperor  Constantin  Porphyrogenet  said,  in 
speaking  of  the  Serbs:  "They  have  no  princes  in  the 
ordinary  sense,  except  elected  chieftains  called  Zhu- 
pans,  as  have  other  Slav  peoples." 

Under  the  influences  of  wars  of  defence,  and  for 
other  causes  imposing  special  duties  and  measures 
of  authority,  involving  differences  in  modes  of  life, 
class  distinctions  were  developed.  These  class  dis- 
tinctions, however,  did  not  bring  about  the  domina- 
tion of  one  class  by  another.  Many  institutions  and 
customs  -how  that  the  democratic  principle  of  equal- 
ity between  man  and  man,  regardless  of  place  or  class 
distinction,  was  never  destroyed;  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, as  expressed  in  the  representative  governing 
assemblies,  etc.,  that  principle  formed  always  the 
fundamental  conception  of  Serb  society.  New  con- 
ditions found  by  the  Servian  Clans  at  the  time  of 
their  great  migration  and  settlement  of  the  Balkan 


180  THE   SERVIAN    PEOPLE 

lands  wrought  by  degrees  changes  in  their  social 
and  agrarian  organisation. 

Factors  in  Those  Changes. — The  excellent  Slav 
characteristics  of  democratic  equality  and  freedom 
came  at  once  into  conflict  with  principles  existing  in 
Rome  and  Byzance,  which  were  in  every  respect  dia- 
metrically opposed  to  those  of  the  Serb  organisation. 

In  this  conflict  the  Servian  customs,  founded 
on     ideals    of     independence,    came     in     time    to    !>«■ 

shaken,  then  modified, and  even,  to  a  certain  extent, 
superseded. 
The  factors  directly  Influencing  these  changes  were 

externa]  and  internal,  political  and  economic,  and, 
according  as  they  bore  with  force  or  lightly  on  the 
inhabitants,  they  conditioned  the  date  and  the  ex- 
tent of  the  assimilation  by  the  Servians  of  the  social 
and  agrarian  conditions  of  Rome  and  Byzance. 
Upon  one  part  of  the  Serbs  an  actively  modifying 
factor  was  the  continual  subjection  to  Byzance. 
Among  the  other  part  of  the  Serl>  people,  although 
the  subjection  was  hut  temporary,  there  was  still 
unceasing  outer  intercourse  with  Byzance.  and  within 
were  modifying  factors  of  a  personal  or  material 
nature. 

When  the  Serbs  had  entered  and  taken  possession 
of  the  Balkan  lands,  Byzance,  being  unable  to  hold 
them  in  submission,  obtained  from  them  acceptance 
of  the  imperial  suzerain  authority,  and  a  small 
tribute  in  return  for  recognition  of  Servian  tribal 
autonomy. 

Lorenz  von  Stein  says:  "Conquest  in  subjuga- 
ting a  population  gives   to   the  conqueror   superior 


EARLY   SOCIAL   CONDITIONS        181 

rights  over  the  soil."  Though  the  Balkans  were 
much  depopulated  before  the  Serbs  entered  in  gen- 
eral migration,  they  found  some  few  inhabitants 
whom  they  placed  under  subjection,  thus  form- 
ing two  classes,  one  of  free  men — that  is,  the 
conquerors;  the  others  the  old  settlers,  the  con- 
quered. Clan  feuds  and  clan  fights  among  the 
conquerors,  continual  contact  with  Byzance  on  one 
side  and  Western  Europe  on  the  other,  all  tended 
to  modify  the  old  pre-existing  Slav  institutions  and 
customs  of  the  Serbs  in  the  sense  of  falling  away  of 
democracy. 

Social  development  and  the  evolution  of  social 
conditions  arc  always  in  closest  relationship  with 
agriculture — that  is,  with  the  means  of  cultivation 
and  the  tenure  of  the  soil  and  distribution  of 
produce. 

When  the  Serbs  took  possession  of  these  lands, 
they  found  there  a  complete  system  of  agrarian  and 
social  organisation,  which  the  Byzantine  rulers  at- 
tempted to  impose  or  introduce  among  the  new- 
comers. In  so  far  as  a  transformation  was  effected. 
it  occurred  only  by  degrees — more  swiftly  with  those 
coming  earlier  under  direct   Bvzantine  rule:  slowlv 

■ 

with  those  who  were  never  the  direct  subjects  of 
Byzance  but  remained  semi-dependent,  and  who 
preserved  their  self-government,  maintaining  a  more 
or  less  unhampered  national  life  under  Byzantine 
suzerainty. 

For  purposes  of  study  the  Serbs  up  to  the  begin- 
ning of  the  twelfth  centurv  must  be  considered  in  two 
groups: 


182  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

Those  who  became  and  remained  direct  subjects 
of  Byzance  for  tens  and  hundreds  of  years,  and 
those  who  maintained  their  self-government  and 
national  independent  existence  whether  or  not  under 
Byzantine  superior  rule. 

1.    DIRECT   SUBJECTS   OF   BYZANCE 

The  Serbs  belonging  to  this  section  were  those  of 
the  earlier  and  small  inflowings  who  had  been  com- 
ing a  few  at  a  time  during  several  hundred  years  to 
take  their  place  among  the  inhabitants  as  subjects 
of  Byzance.  On  arrival  they  had  the  choice  of  two 
alternatives,  either  to  become  free  peasants  on  gov- 
ernment land,  or  to  become  soldiers  with  the  prospect 
of  a  small  land-apportionment.  The  regions  they 
inhabited  in  the  eighth  century  were  southern 
Thracia,  southern  Macedonia,  and  northern  Greece. 

For  purposes  of  this  survey  of  conditions  which  the 
Serbs  had  to  meet  on  their  arrival  in  Byzantium,  only 
those  affecting  rustic  and  agrarian  life  are  considered, 
because  the  Serbs  did  not  live  in  the  towns  but  al- 
ways sought  the  land.  One  distinct  difference  evi- 
dent even  to-day  between  Greek  and  Slav  character 
is  that  the  Greek  is  essentially  a  townsman  and  mer- 
chant, while  the  Serb  or  other  Slav  is  a  countryman 
and  agricultural  producer. 

In  Byzance  there  were  three  forms  of  landed 
property  finding  their  correlatives  in  the  main  divi- 
sions of  the  social  strata  of  the  empire.  These  kinds 
of  properties  were:  the  Imperial  or  State  property; 
the  ecclesiastical  appanage  of  churches  and  monas- 


DIRECT   SUBJECTS   OF   BYZANCE     183 

teries;  and  privately  owned  property,  generally  in 
great  estates — "Latifundia." 

Dependent  upon  these  for  their  relation  to  the  soil 
and  their  property  rights,  where  such  existed,  were 
the  lower  strata  of  the  Byzantine  population,  the 
"Free  Peasants,"  " Bondsmen,"  the  "Serfs,"  and  the 
"Slaves." 

Intimately  connected  with  the  Imperial  or  State 
Byzantine  property  were  the  so-called  "Free  Peas- 
ants," who  lived  in  communities  called  "Metroco- 
mias."  State  lands  were  apportioned  to  them  to  hold 
in  common;  the  members  having  equal  rights  on  the 
soil  wert-  also  each  equally  with  the  others  responsi- 
ble to  the  treasury  for  the  amount  of  the  State  levy. 
The  individual  had  only  the  "usus"  and  "fructus" 
of  those  acres  periodically  allotted  to  him.  He  had 
the  privilege  of  parting  with  lii>  share  although  he 
u  as  Dot  its  proprietor. 

This  class  of  peasants  originally  dependent  only 
upon  the  "Fiseus,"  or  State  and  who  were  denomi- 
nated "Poor  People"  or  "Common  People"    "Vul- 
garos"  or  "Pauper*'    decreased  Blowly  in  numl 
and  in  time  disappeared.1 

1  In  Byzanee  the  term  "Rich  and  Powerful"  was  used  to  high 

officials  and  the  pooaonoora  >>f  Latifundia.  All  of  the  other  inhabi- 
tants came  under  t  .cation  of  "Poor  people."  There  was  also 
used  to  desig:  corruption  of  the  Latin  for 
"Common  people,"  which  came  to  be  pronounced  "bougar. " 

All  of  the  Byzantine  writers  and  tho^-  of  the  Turkish  times  including 
Hadji  Khalfa,  a  famous  Turk:-  g  :  pher  of  the  early  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, in  mentioning  I  -  -  inhabiting  the  lands  of  the  Strouma 
and  tho^-                    i  of  that  rivt.-r,  apply  to  them  the  national  name  of 

3   -vians,  "  which  -ople  themselves  to  designate 

those  populations  up  to  about  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
when,  a?  the  result  of  the  execration  by  the  Turk  -  v. ho  were 


184  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

The  causes  of  this  destruction  were  first  and 
chiefly  the  system  of  tax-gathering,  which  in  Byzance 

—as  in  the  Turkey  of  the  nineteenth  century  and 
pre-revolutionary  France — lay  at  the  bottom  of  many 
incurable  ills. 

In  order  to  escape  the  exactions  and  abuses  of  the 
tax-collectors,  the  free  peasants  chose  a  patron- 
protector,  voluntarily  submitting  to  be  "Clientes" 
under  the  Patrocinium  of  that  class  officially  called, 
in  contradistinction  to  himself,  "Rich  and  Powerful."1 

It  often  occurred  that  the  State  gave  over  to  an 
individual,  in  payment  or  reward  for  services,  the  col- 
lection and  enjoyment  during  a  certain  period  of  a 
Metroeomia  or  other  State  levy.  This  temporary 
privilege  easily  devoluted  amidst  the  unwieldy  ma- 
chinery of  Byzantine  administration  into  a  perpetual 
right.  In  either  case  the  free  peasant  ceased  to  be 
free,  and  fell  into  the  subservient  position  of  peasants 
on  the  great  lordly  estates. 


then  successful  in  their  great  insurrections,  the  name  "bougar"  reappears 
as  applied  to  the  Serbo-Slovenic  population  of  those  lands. 

The  word  "bougar"  is  used  to-day  in  Turkey  to  indicate  (1)  people 
who  follow  menial  pursuits;  (2)  a  term  of  contempt  as  applied  to  all  Slavs; 
(3)  all  kinds  of  menial  labour  is  called  by  the  Slavs  themselves  "  bougarska 
rabota"  (menial  work);  (4)  anything  in  a  state  of  deterioration,  that  is, 
spoiling;  for  instance,  the  inhabitants  say  of  wheat  or  other  grain  that  is 
"  going  bad  "  it  "  izbougari  se. "  The  lowest  grade  of  grain  is  spoken  of  as 
"bougarka. "  An  equivalent  in  the  language  for  "simpleton"  is  "Asli 
bougar."  The  same  term  is  used  where  the  English  would  use  the  word 
"pauper,"  recalling  also  the  French  of  "pouvre  bougre"  (poor  devil). 
This  word  has  no  connection  whatever  with  the  national  name  of  the  citi- 
zens of  Bulgaria,  which  is  based  on  "Blgar,  Blgarin, "  or  Blgarska-ta" 
(Bulgaria).  Strangers  travelling  in  Macedonia  generally  confuse  those 
terms  of  widely  different  derivation,  taking  "  bougar  "  for  "  Blgar. " 

1  It  is  useful  here  to  state  at  once  that  in  all  dealings  whatever  with  the 
rustic  population  of  whatever  order  except  the  slaves,  the  unit  wras  not  the 
individual  but  the  hearth  or  smoke-stack. 


DIRECT  SUBJECTS   OF   BYZAXCE    185 

The  mass  of  Byzantine  peasants  on  the  lordly 
estates,  whether  those  of  great  nobles  or  the  Church, 
lived  in  a  condition  of  subjection  and  came  to  be 
called  "Paroikies"  (Trapoi/cos).  They  belonged  to  two 
categories:  those  of  the  most  favoured  situation  were 
the"Coloni  liberi"  (free  colonists),  those  of  the  second 
category  were  the  "Coloni  censibus  adscripticii,"  or 
bonded  colonists. 

The  coloni  liberi  were  small  farmers  holding  the 
land  from  the  owner  of  the  estate  and  paying  rent. 
They  performed,  also,  certain  personal  services  deter- 
mined by  special  contract.  They  worked  the  land 
with  their  own  means  of  production,  and  were  rela- 
tively freemen  not  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  land- 
lord, but  after  a  period  of  thirty  years  their  right  to 
leave  the  rented  farms  expired. 

The  coloni  censibtu  adscripticii,  bonded  tenants, 
were  bound  to  the  soil  as  hereditary  subjects  of  the 
owner  of  the  estate.  They  were  under  his  personal 
jurisdiction.  They  tilled  the  soil  with  the  means  of 
production  furnished  by  him. 

This  classification  and  organisation  were  fixed  by 
the  Justinian  legislation.  Continual  revolts  result- 
ing from  the  inability  of  the  Slavonic  populations 
to  accept  or  understand  the  subjecting  conditions 
imposed  on  the  tiller  of  the  soil  by  Byzantine  usages 
or  laws  necessitated  in  the  middle  of  the  eighth 
century  a  reorganisation  of  the  agrarian  regulations. 
These  laws  are  known  as  the  "leges  rusticse." 
Their  object  was  the  lowering  of  the  ground-rent,  and 
the  transformation  of  the  conditions  of  servitude  into 
that  of  rent-paying  tenancy.     Besides  regulating  the 


186  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

status  of  the  "Free  husbandmen"  on  State  lands, 
they  decreed  reforms  for  the  "liberi"  and  "adscrip- 
ticii"  abolishing  servitude.  The  "liberi"  were  trans- 
formed into  the  class  called  "Mortitis,"  tithe-payers, 
retaining  their  former  privileges,  the  rent  and  dues 
to  the  owner  of  the  estate  being  fixed  at  the  tenth 
part  of  the  harvest.  The  rent  of  the  adscripticii  to 
be  called  "farmer-in-half  "  was  fixed  at  half  of  the 
harvest. 

Another  kind  of  properly  existing  in  Byzance, 
affecting  the  Serb  peoples,  was  the  "Soldier-land," 
held  in  tenancy  from  the  State  in  return  for  the  per- 
formance of  certain  military  services. 

That  land  could  be  inherited  by  the  relatives  of 
the  incumbent  up  to  the  sixth  degree  of  relationship, 
but  it  could  not  be  sold  or  divided.  Each  successive 
heir  could  only  enter  into  possession  by  continuing 
to  perform  the  military  service  conditioning  the 
original  grant.1 

The  " Latifundia." — One  of  the  great  means  of 
agricultural  production  in  old  Rome  and  afterward  in 
Byzance,  on  the  great  landed  estates,  or  " latif undia," 
was  the  slave-labour,  the  "servi  rustici"  (agrarian 
slaves).  The  word  indicates  the  status  of  those 
labourers  dispossessed  of  all  rights  and  totally  unre- 
munerated,  so  forming  the  cheapest  labour.  The 
free  and  even  the  bonded  tillers  of  the  soil  met  in 
this  unpaid  labour,  a  competition  which  by  degrees 

1  The  ordinances  of  Emperor  Constantin  Porphyrogenet  fixed  the  scale 
of  value  of  these  lands  at  four  pounds  (liberum)  gold  for  cavalry  and  men 
of  the  .Egean,  Samian,  and  Cyprian  fleet;  two  liberum  gold  for  men  of 
the  other  fleets.  Nikephoros  Phocas,  in  an  edict  of  963,  fixes  the  value  at 
twelve  liberum  gold  for  men  in  armour. 


DIRECT   SUBJECTS   OF   BYZANCE    187 

broke  their  own  force  of  resistance  and  degraded 
their  own  situation  to  almost  that  of  slaves. 

An  indication  of  the  number  in  which  the  agrarian 
slaves  swarmed  on  these  Latifundia,  as  well  as  a 
glimpse  at  social  conditions  of  Byzance,  is  afforded  by 
the  papers  in  the  settling  up  of  the  estate  of  the  oft- 
cited  rich  "widow  Danielis,"  in  the  ninth  century, 
the  Emperor  Leo  VI  being  the  legatee  and  executor. 
To  him  personally  she  left  eighty  large  properties — 
Latifundia.  lie  found  these  estates  so  overrun  by 
the  number  of  slaves  that  he  set  free  three  thousand 
of  them.  Some  years  before,  this  same  widow  had 
made  a  present  to  the  Emperor  Basilius  I  of  five  hun- 
dred slaves,  among  which  were  one  hundred  eunuchs 
and  one  hundred  female  slaves  highly  skilled  in  fine 
embroidery  and  weaving. 

The  influence  of  the  leges  rusticw  was  only  of  short 
duration.  Very  soon  the  great  Byzantine  landlords 
again  succeeded  in  fixing  their  "Paroikes"  on  the 
glebe,  and  in  raising  the  rents  from  the  low  figure 
established  by  the  leges  rusHcas. 

They  went  even  further:  fortified  by  the  cheap 
slave  labour,  they  augmented  and  aggrandised  their 
estates,  adding  to  them  the  small  acres  belonging  to 
the  free  peasants  and  the  soldiers,  and  reducing  their 
own  bondsmen  to  near  slavery.  These  manipula- 
tions were  of  such  injury  to  the  State,  its  treasury, 
and  its  military  resources,  as  well  as  to  the  public 
welfare,  that  several  of  the  Emperors  undertook  to 
stem  the  growing  evil  by  edicts  stigmatising  the  prac- 
tices of  the  great  lords.  The  co-Emperor,  Romanus 
Lecapanus,  in  his  edict  of  928,  says  that  these  prac- 


188  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

tices  were  carried  out  "by  means  of  usury  and  fraud- 
ulent acquisition."  Emperor  Porphyrogenet,  twenty 
years  Later,  says:  "Under  the  pretext  of  purchase, 
gift,  inheritance,  .  .  .  etc.,  .  .  .  they  [the  Rich  and 
Powerful]  make  [add]  other  men's  property  to  their 
own  and  so  drive  the  'Poor'  from  home  and  house." 

The  measures  adopted  in  these  edicts  were  in- 
tended to  prevent  the  disappearance  of  the  free 
peasant  and  the  soldier  agriculturalist,  and  to  enforce 
restitution  of  the  ill-gotten  properties  to  their  former 
petty  owners.  All  of  these  ordinances  forbade  the 
"Rich  and  Powerful"  acquiring,  l>y  any  means  what- 
ever, the  land  of  the  "Poor"  and  declaring  such  ac- 
quisitions null  and  void.  Further,  they  regulated  the 
sale  and  purchase  of  the  land  of  the  free  peasants  so 
as  to  exclude  the  possibility  of  their  falling  into  the 
hands  of  the  "Rich  and  Powerful." 

These  edicts  also  decreed  that  all  properties  for- 
merly in  the  possession  of  the  "Poor"  should  be  re- 
stored with  or  without  compensation  according  to  the 
equity  of  the  case.  Other  Emperors  decreed  that  the 
"Rich  and  Powerful"  could  not  sell  their  land  to  an- 
other person  of  their  own  class,  but  only  to  peasants. 

In  time  these  edicts  and  measures  were  neglected  and 
some  of  them  rescinded,  and  during  a  certain  period 
the  principle  was  in  usage,  that  land  could  be  bought 
and  sold  only  by  persons  of   the  same  social  status. 

The  last  Byzantine  Emperor  who  endeavoured  to 
arrest  the  system  practised  by  the  great  "possessing" 
classes  who  were  bringing  the  State  into  decadence 
and  anarchy  was  Basilius  II.  His  edicts  and  ordi- 
nances remained  in  force  during  a  century  or  so. 


NEVER   SUBJECTS   OF   BYZANCE     189 

At  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century  and  beginning 
of  the  thirteenth  the  small  free  peasant  class  had 
ceased  to  exist. 

Hermonopulos,  Judge  of  Thessalonika  (Salonika) 
in  1345,  under  John  Paleologue,  says  in  his  "Manual 
of  Law"  that  all  these  edicts  are  "antiquated  and 
out  of  use." 

The  land  and  all  sources  of  production  in  the 
hands  of  a  class  numerically  small,  the  mass  of  the 
people  dispossessed  and  in  direct  subjection  to  this 
powerful  minority,  therefore  estranged  from  all  idea 
of  the  State  as  a  part  of  themselves,  ready  to  welcome 
any  conqueror  who  might  give  them  in  change  a 
glimpse  of  hope — such  was  the  condition  of  Byzance 
when  thai  empire  first  brought  to  Europe  as  her 
hired  mercenaries  the  mere  handful  of  Turks  who 
were  the  forerunners  of  the  mighty  invasions  from  tin- 
Orient  which  afterward  filled  those  lands  for  hundreds 
of  years  and  indeed  up  to  the  present  time.  For  it 
is  curious  to  observe  that  all  of  those  regions  which 
remained  under  Byzance  up  to  within  one  hundred 
or  fifty  years  of  the  coming  of  the  Turks,  being  once 
subjected  to  the  Ottomans  were  never  again  able  to 
find  strength  enough  to  rise  and  throw  off  the  yoke. 

J.    SERBS    OF    THE    GREAT    MIGRATION     NEVER    ENDER 
BYZANTINE   DIRECT  RULE EARLY  SERVIAN  STATES 

The  Serb  Clans  of  the  great  migrations  of  the  early 
seventh  century  occupied  the  territories  which  their 
descendants  now  inhabit — that  is,  the  western,  north- 
western, and  central  part  of  the  Balkan  Peninsula. 


190  THE   SERVIAN    PEOPLE 

They  always  remained  more  or  less  independent 
and  retained  their  self-government.  Byzance  was 
never  able  to  impose  upon  them,  as  upon  tin1  small 
Serb  groups  which  during  previous  centuries  had 
drifted  into  the  peninsula  to  become  direct  subjects 
of  Byzance,  the  social  system  as  it  existed  through- 
out the  Empire  at  the  time  of  their  arrival.  The 
development  of  social  conditions  among  the  Serbs 
of  the  great  migration  was,  on  the  contrary,  a  Dat- 
ura! evolution  based  on  principles  of  organisation 
brought  with  them,  which  were  common  in  one  form 
or  other  to  all  Slavonic  nations. 

History  seems  to  show  that  democratic  equality 
cannot  remain  absolute  among  men  for  any  length 
of  time,  especially  among  primitive  peoples.  Till- 
ing of  the  soil  and  its  defence  against  attack  brought 
the  first  separation  of  classes.  The  plough  and  the 
sword  cannot  long  be  exercised  by  the  same  hand: 
the  hand  that  wielded  the  sword  gave  protection; 
the  hand  that  held  the  plough,  grateful  for  that 
safety,  rewarded  the  protector  with  fruits  of  its  toil. 

The  basis  of  all  the  Slavonic  social  organisation, 
as  has  already  been  seen,  is  the  family  community, 
"Zadruga,"  among  Serbs.  When  the  Zadruga  in- 
creased and  subdivided  into  new  Zadrugas,  the  old 
central  house  remained  morally  still  the  centre,  as 
being  the  original  (old)  "home-hearth"  and  source 
of  all  the  younger  groups. 

Ancestral  worship,  born  of  filial  loyalty,  was  the 
basic  conception  in  the  old  religious  beliefs  of  Sla- 
vonic peoples.  The  spirits  of  the  ancestors  roamed 
about  the  old  central  home-hearth.     Toward   it  as 


NEVER   SUBJECTS   OF  BYZANCE     191 

toward  a  shrine  all  hearts  were  lifted.  The  kinsman 
occupying  the  house  was  the  guardian  of  a  sacred 
tradition  and  became  the  "Primus  inter  pares"  of 
his  kinsfolk.  If  he  was  not  the  chief  of  the  "Rod" 
or  "Pleme"  having  sprung  from  that  central  house 
the  general  atavistic  sentiment  invested  him  in  a 
certain  degree  with  sacerdotal  character.1 

The  fact  that  the  man  who  presided  at  the  old 
central  home-hearth  became  the  leader  and  most 
important  man  caused  his  property  to  be  enlarged 
and  also  his  political  power  as  representative  of  his 
kinsfolk.  As  administrator  of  the  general  interests  be- 
in^  the  embodiment  in  his  own  person,  not  of  over- 
Lordship  in  the  sense  of  greater  means  of  personal 
enjoyment,  pleasure,  Luxury,  or  pride,  but  the  up- 
holder of  justice  and  right,  he  became  the  nobleman. 

On  purely  Slavonic  soil  this  aristocratic  develop- 
ment as  outlined  required  hundreds  of  years  and  was 
even  then  never  wholly  recognised  as  an  institution.2 

'  The  only  nobiliary  title  of  purely  Slavonic  origin  i-  the  title  "Knez" 

(Serb),  "Knia  a  and   Polish),  "Kniahe"  (Tcheck),  the  equiva- 

ef  or  Prince  princepe).     That  title  designated  the  man  who 

rmed  for  the  people  the  sacrificial  rites,  a  leader  in  religious  exercises, 

as  well  u  in  military  and  political  affairs.     In  Polish  and  Tcheck  the 

priest  is  still  called  "Knes."    Thu  "  First-man"  was  also  taken  to  be  the 

-t  and  most  learned  man  of  the  elan,  and  the  most  skilled  in  all  lore. 

A  scholar,  a  learned  man,  or  a  writer  i-  to-day  called  in  Servian  "kniz- 

hevnik,"  erudition  and  literature  are  "  knishevnost,"  and  book  ifl  "  kniga 

,,r  knyega  "      -  M  and  other  Slavonic  land-  the  only  real  Slavonic 

title  is  "  Knez"  (prince),  developed  from  clans  or  tribal  chief. 

-  []  .,  n  to-day  the  "Muzhik"   'little  man"),  or  common  people, 

not  the  idea  that  the  kniai  or  nobleman  is  hi-  ••better,"  as  is  the 
in  many  non-Slavonic  countries,  or  that  he  is  of  different  "flesh  or  blood " 
from  him  be  looks  upon  him  as  a  more  powerful  "big  brother," 

•.horn  as  such  he  owes  a  kind  of  respect  or  deference,  and  who  might 
on  occasion  rightfully  exercise  a  power  of  authority  over  him,  but  who  in 
sum  is  a  man  like  himself. 


192  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

When  the  Serbs  came  to  the  Balkans  each  Pleme 
or  Clan  occupied  for  itself  a  separate  extent  of  terri- 
tory. Each  Rod,  each  Zadruga,  took  that  land 
within  the  Clan  domain  which  appeared  to  it  most 
attractive.  The  territory  of  the  Clan  (Pleme)  was  the 
"Zhupa,"  its  elected  head  was  the  "Zhupan,"  a  Knez. 

Constantin  Porphyrogenet  writes,  speaking  of  the 
Serbs  in  Dalmatia  and  Bosnia,  then  called  Illiria: 
"After  the  baptism  of  the  Slavs  the  Emperor  Basilius 
I  ordered  that  all  those  christened  should  elect  chief- 
tains from  that  family  which  they  specially  honoured, 
and  up  to  to-day  they  are  ruled  by  chiefs  issued  from 
those  families  chosen  under  Basilius  I  and  from  no 
others." 

Chieftains  had  always  been  elected  among  Serbs, 
but  the  order  of  Basilius  to  choose  them  from  cer- 
tain special  families  was  new  to  Slavonic  custom. 
That  was  the  coming  in  among  them  of  the  principle 
of  heredity. 

The  Clan  as  a  clan  came  under  direct  Byzantine 
authority,  and  its  chief  was  the  representative  not 
only  of  the  Clan's  people  but  of  the  Clan's  territory, 
among  the  Clans  and  before  the  Imperial  authority. 
That  centralisation  of  power  involving  inequality 
of  responsibility  brought  about  a  tendency  toward 
class  segregation  (differentiation).  The  develop- 
ment occurred  along  the  individualistic  lines  of 
Rome  and  Byzance  which  were  in  antagonism  with 
the  original  Slavonic  principle  of  common  life  and 
equality  in  regard  to  possession  of  land  and  labour. 
The  result  of  the  appearance  of  this  foreign  principle 
brought  about  recognition  of  superior  rights  of  pos- 


EARLY  SERVIAN   STATES  193 

session  over  the  common  land  of  the  Pleme  and  even 
of  the  Rod,  and  the  hereditary  chief  of  Pleme  or  Rod 
developed  into  the  superior  lord  of  the  territory. 
The  other  members  of  the  Clan  or  of  the  Rod  had 
their  material  and  individual  independence  dimin- 
ished, and  with  time  fell  into  the  position  of  political 
subjects  of  the  chief. 

Evolution  of  State  up  to  the  Twelfth  Century. 

The  Serbs  of  the  great  migration  on  entering  the 
Balkan  Peninsula  and  for  some  time  afterward 
had  no  higher  political  organisation  than  the  Clan 
or  Pleme.  Their  sentiment  of  union  or  nationality 
was  expressed  in  those  times  by  temporary  loose 
confederations  effected  in  the  hour  of  common 
danger;  that  hour  passed,  the  desire  for  the  local 
independence  of  each  Clan  reasserted  itself  and 
slackened  the  bonds. 

The  attempts  made  to  subdue  them  by  Byzance, 
profiting  by  their  system  of  fluctuating  organisation, 
the  Tartaric  conquerors  of  Bulgaria,  the  Francs, 
the  Venetians,  and  later  the  Hungarians  (Magyars), 
taught  the  Serbs  that  for  resistance  the  creation  of  a 
large  and  vigorous  State  was  a  necessity. 

Some  of  the  Servian  chiefs  or  Knezes,  Peter  Goyini- 
kovich,  Chastav,  Samuel,  Stephan  Voislav,  and  Bodin, 
are  seen  making  the  attempt  to  unite  with  their  own 
small  States  the  neighbouring  Servian  territories. 

Those  rulers  who  united  under  their  control  a 
number  of  Clan  territories,  or  Zhupas,  were  called 
Grand-Zhupans  (Velko-Zhupan). 


194  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

The  Zhupans  were  responsible  personally  to  the 
Grand-Zhupan,  but  the  Clan  within  its  limits  had 
complete  liberty  and  autonomy. 

The  Serbian  State  therefore  consisted  of  a  federa- 
tion of  Clans  and  groups  of  Clans,  each  one  indepen- 
dent and  autonomous.1 

The  size  of  that  federation  and  its  period  of  dura- 
tion depended  upon  the  individual  strength  of  its 
head.  Any  weakness  of  the  individual  grip  of  that 
"general,"  Knez  or  King,  had  its  reaction  at  once  in  a 
relaxation  of  the  bands  of  the  federation  and  a  fall- 
ing away  of  its  provinces.  The  clear  conception  of 
a  general  State  strong  enough  to  resist  invasion 
dawned  by  degrees  in  the  Serb  consciousness,  and 
after  several  efforts  and  attempts  found  its  final 
formulation  in  the  State  as  organised  by  Stephan 
Nemanya  which  was  adhered  to  in  principle  by  his 
successors,  culminating  in  the  great  Empire  of 
Doushan. 

Interior  Organisation. — From  earliest  ages  up  to 
the  present  time  the  principle  of  absolutism  never 
entered  into  the  notions  of  the  Serb  people.  Not 
only  their  institutions  and  laws,  but  their  State  and 
official  documents  attest  that  fact;  all  such  ordinances 
and  edicts — and  there  are  hundreds  of  them — begin 
with  the  following  formula:  "We  .  .  .  [name]  took 
council  with  .   .  .  [with  my  wife,  my  sons,  uncles, 

1  This  severely  democratic  organisation  possesses  the  fault  and  the  great 
one  of  its  quality,  growing  out  of  excessive  democratic  sentiment  and  the 
assertion  of  individual  rights,  involving  the  too  great  respect  for  the  will 
of  the  minority.  This  fault  belongs  not  only  to  the  Servian  nation,  but 
to  all  purely  Slavonic  races  like  the  Russians  and  the  Poles,  as  for  in- 
stance in  the  Polish  Congress  (Parliament)  was  the  " Liberum  Veto." 


EARLY   SERVIAN   STATES  195 

cousins,  the  whole  Zadruga]  with  the  Bishops  and 
Abbots,  with  the  Nobility  great  and  small,  with  the 
whole  Assembly,  etc.  [each  person  generally  desig- 
nated by  name],  and  we  do  ordain,  .   .  .  etc." 

Zhwpa. — In  the  central  part  of  each  Clan's  terri- 
tory or  Zhupa  was  a  fortified  place,  called  the  "  Grad," 
containing;  a  stronghold  or  castle,  where  lived  the 
Zhupan  or  Knez,  with  his  "aids"  (in  the  executive 
duties).  In  the  Grad  met  the  assembly  of  the 
Zhupa,  called  Zbor,  Sabor,  or  Vetche,  which  was  the 
legislative  body  and  the  ultimate  repository  of  all 
power  in  the  Zhupa,  political  or  other.  It  was  com- 
posed of  the  Stareshinas  of  the  different  Rods  or 
Zadrugas.  This  Assembly  deliberated  upon  all 
affairs  affecting  the  Clan.  In  days  before  the  Zhu- 
pans  became  hereditary  they  were  elected  by  the 
Sabor;  after  that  time  the  Zhupan  took  the  advice 
and  counsel  of  the  Assembly  in  decisions  concerning 
all  important  public  acts. 

When  the  Zhupas  became  united  into  a  State 
these  Sabors  retained  their  complete  local  autonomy 
and  the  Zhupans  and  chiefs  of  Rods  with  the  Church- 
men formed  the  National  Assembly  of  the  Grand- 
Zhupanat,  or  federations  of  Zhupas.  Out  of  this 
developed  the  Great  National  Assembly  of  the  king- 
dom, the  Grand-Zhupan  being  elected  King. 

The  principle  of  the  election  of  kings  and  em- 
perors, even  if  partly  fictitious  and  dwindling  at 
times  into  mere  confirmation,  was  always  main- 
tained among;  the  Serbs.  Self-g;overnment  likewise 
never  lapsed,  and  was  found  in  the  free  municipal  or 
village  administrations  as  well  as  in  the  Zhupa,  and 


196  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

there  is  no  evidence,  documentary  or  other,  to  indi- 
cate that  the  Serb  State  ever  interfered  in  the  organi- 
sation of  the  local  administrations. 

At  the  Zhupa's  assembly  at  the  Grad  the  judiciary 
were  elected.  In  justice  the  fundamental  principle 
was,  "A  man  must  be  judged  by  his  peers."  At  that 
time  the  highest  judicial  power  was  vested  exclusively 
in  a  body  of  men  who  were  chosen  for  short  fixed 
terms  by  the  Assembly  from  among  the  general 
people  forming  a  kind  of  jury.  They  judged  criminal 
as  well  as  civil  cases,  and  the  decision  depended  upon 
their  unanimity  or  general  agreement  of  opinion. 


CHAPTER  VI 

SOCIAL  ORGANISATION  FROM  ABOUT 
1100  TO  ABOUT  1470  (SERVIAN  KING- 
DOMS AND   EMPIRE) 

All  of  the  studies  of  this  period  are  based  on  the  old  docu- 
ments still  extant  in  the  National  and  other  Archives  and  on  the 
"Zakonik  Tzara  Doushana"  (Code  of  the  Emperor  Doushan), 
which  is  a  codification  made  in  1346  by  the  Great  National 
Legislative  Assembly,  presided  over  by  the  Emperor,  of  all  the 
Servian  laws,  ordinances,  and  customary  usages  remaining  in 
force  from  the  founding  of  a  Servian  State  up  to  that  time. 

1.    CONSTITUTION    AND    ORGANISATION    OF    THE    SER- 
VIAN   STATE 

THE  history  of  the  Servian  State  from  its  earliest 
inception  shows  it  to  have  always  been  gov- 
erned on  constitutional  principles,  and  whether 
under  Prince,  King,  or  Emperor,  Servia  was  always 
a  constitutional  monarchy — that  is,  the  Sovereign 
ruled  with  the  aid  of  a  parliament  or  legislative 
assembly. 

The  Sabor  or  State's  Assembly  was  already  in  ex- 
istence under  Stephan  Nemanya  as  the  normal 
development  of  an  old  Servian  institution,  and  was 
called  by  him  to  his  help  in  creating  Servian  unity. 
Documents  show  that  with  its  assistance  he  elabo- 
rated laws  for  the  suppression  of  Bogomilism  (1173). 
The  formulation  of  all  laws  enacted  under  Servian 

197 


198  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

kings,  from  that  time  up  to  the  empire  under  Dou- 
shan,  demonstrates  that  no  law  was  passed,  and  no 
grant  of  land  or  of  any  other  kind  was  made  without 
the  assent  of  the  National  Assembly. 

It  was  the  privilege  of  the  Sabor  nominally  to  elect 
the  King,  to  acclaim  him,  and  to  be  present  at  his 
coronation.  It  was  also  the  Sabor's  right  to  elect 
the  Bishops  and  Archbishops  and,  at  a  later  period, 
the  Patriarch  of  the  Servian  Orthodox  Church.  The 
records  of  the  sessions  of  Parliament  and  the  details 
regulating  its  date  of  opening  and  duration  are  not 
known.  But  the  Ruler  convened  the  Sabor,  and 
there  is  evidence  that  no  year  passed  without  a  ses- 
sion of  the  National  Assembly  being  held  in  delib- 
eration with  the  Ruler. 

The  Sabor  was  composed  of  the  Ruler;  the  Queen 
or  Empress  (all  documents  indicate  that  the  wife  of 
the  Sovereign  had  a  legal  participation  in  the  deliber- 
ations of  the  State's  Assembly);  the  higher  monastic 
clergy — the  Patriarch,  Archbishops,  Bishops,  and 
Abbots;  the  Nobility — both  great  and  small;  and  in 
certain  cases  the  military  leaders  even  when  they  did 
not  belong  to  the  nobility.  In  the  time  of  Stephan 
Nemanya  and  up  to  King  Miloutin's  reign  the  com- 
mon people  were  represented  by  delegates.  In  the 
later  period  those  delegates  or  their  descendants, 
being  the  headmen  of  villages  (Stareshinas),  had  de- 
veloped into  the  Nobility,  which  on  becoming  he- 
reditary caused  the  practical  disappearance  of  the 
elective  rights  of  the  Commoners.  At  a  still  later 
period  attempts  were  made  by  the  people  to  regain 
direct  representation  in  the  National  Assembly. 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS,  1100  TO  1470  199 

In  addition  to  the  general  Parliament,  there  existed 
a  permanent  Council  of  State,  a  kind  of  Privy  Council, 
whose  members  were  chosen  from  among  the  Sabor. 

The  Sabor  dealt  with  all  of  the  most  important 
affairs,  such  as  legislation,  taxation,  judiciary  matters, 
measures  of  State  and  political  administration,  mili- 
tary organisation  and  administration,  foreign  affairs, 
warS;  appropriations,  and  the  election  of  Bishops.      \ 

In  accordance  with  old  Slavonic  custom  and  the 
people's  rights,  the  Ruler  acted  only  after  obtaining 
the  counsel  and  consent,  even  if  but  formally,  of  his 
wife,  his  family,  his  relatives  (his  Zadruga),  and  cer- 
tain lay  and  spiritual  dignitaries  (Council  of  State), 
and  with  them  the  body  of  the  State's  Assembly. 

A  decree  <>!'  grant  of  the  Emperor  Stephan  Doushan 
in  1349  to  the  monastery  of  "The  Mother  of  God," 
says:  "...  My  Imperial  Majesty  took  counsel 
with  .  .  .  the  Empress  Madam  Elena,  with  our  son 
King  Urosh,  with  the  Holy  Patriarch  of  the  Serbs 
and  Greeks,  Lord  Sava,  and  with  all  Archbishops 
and  Ileinimens  .  .  .  with  all  the  Vlastela  Great  and 
Small,  and  with  the  whole  Assembly  of  the  Serbs, 
the  Greeks  and  people  of  the  Littoral  .  .  .  and  do 
ordain:  .   .   ."  (Monumcnta  Serbica). 

The  executive  power  was  entirely  in  the  hands  of 
the  Ruler,  who  was  also  commander-in-chief  of  the 
army  and  presided  over  the  Sabor.  The  voice  of 
the  Assembly,  however,  was  at  times  so  powerful 
that  it  overruled  that  of  the  Sovereign.  There  are 
several  instances  of  kings  having  been  dethroned  or 
heirs  being  put  out  of  line  of  succession  by  decree  of 
the  Sabor. 


200  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

The  Ruler  of  the  United  Servian  States,  Prince, 
King,  or  Emperor,  was,  as  head  of  the  State,  superior 
lord  or  proprietor  of  all  land  not  private  property. 
And  by  legal  fiction  he  was  superior  owner  of 
even  the  land  in  private  possession.  He  disposed 
of  the  free  land  of  the  realm  only  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  his  family,  the  Council  of  State,  and 
the  Sabor.1 

The  chief  of  the  State  Chancellery  was  called 
"Logothet"  (" Word-bearer").  There  was  a  High 
Steward  of  the  Realm,  "  Veliki  Chelnik,"  who  pre- 
sided over  the  affairs  of  the  Interior  and  Justice,  a 
Lord  of  the  Treasury  called  "Riznitchkni  Chelnik," 
having  in  charge  the  financial  administration  of  the 
Realm. 

The  administration  of  the  State  as  a  whole  was 
strongly  centralised,  with  local  autonomy  in  the 
Zhupas  and  the  villages. 

All  State  officials,  especially  under  the  Empire, 
were  either  chosen  from  the  Nobility  or,  upon  their 
appointment,  entered  the  ranks  of  the  Nobles. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century  on- 
ward  the  State  was  divided   into  provinces  called 

*No  great  difference  can  be  established  between  the  State  lands  and 
those  privately  owned  by  the  Sovereign;  they  are  often  confounded  with 
each  other  in  dealings,  a  legal  fiction  identifying  the  State  with  the  person 
of  the  Ruler. 

That  same  principle,  brought  about  the  nominal  ownership  of  the  lands 
occupied  by  the  Rods  and  Plemes  by  their  chiefs,  who  became  at  that  time 
lords  in  the  newly  developed  nobility  classes. 

It  is  evident,  however,  that  the  Sovereign  could  not  or  did  not  arbi- 
trarily and  illegally  seize  or  dispose  of  lands  in  the  possession  of  others. 

A  document  of  King  Stephan  Miloutin,  1317  (Spomenik,  III,  p.  16),  says: 
"...  And  all  that  I  gave  whatsoever  to  the  Holy  Monasteries  ...  I  gave 
it  out  of  my  own  possession,  or  I  bought,  or  I  asked  leave  to  take  [from 
public  lands]  or  exchanged  with  the  Lord  Archbishop  or  with  others.  ..." 


STATE   AND   CROWN   REVENUES     201 

"drzhava"  ("holding"),  and  the  term  "Zhupa" 
came  to  be  applied  to  sub-divisions  of  these  provinces, 
which  were  also  called  "Oblasti." 

The  holders  of  these  territories  were  in  no  sense 
feudal  lords,  they  were  royal  or  imperial  administra- 
tors under  the  Crown  and  the  Assembly.  Their 
title  was  "Knez."1  They  were  provincial  governors 
and  military  commanders  of  the  territory.  Their 
office  was  limited  either  to  a  lifetime  or  to  a  set 
period.  They  were  removable  in  case  of  non-fulfil- 
ment of  duty.  In  Bosnia  the  administrator  of  a 
province  was  a  "Voyvoda,"  while  in  Rashka  the  title 
"Voyvod"  meant  a  military  commander. 

2.    STATE   AND   CROWN    REVENUES 

The  administration  of  the  customs  dues  and 
revenues  was  in  charge  of  a  special  body  under  the 
Royal,  later  the  Imperial,  Treasury,  and  included 
customs  and  revenue  agents  called  "Tzareniks," 
who  were  appointed  over  districts.  These  Tzareniks 
not  only  collected  the  revenues,  both  customs  and 
inland,  but  they  presided  also  as  judges  over  com- 
mercial courts  sitting  to  arbitrate  trade  or  market 
matters.  The  laws  visited  heavy  punishments  upon 
them  in  case  of  the  abuse  of  power  in  their  own  in- 
terests. 


1  At  a  later  time  "  Knez  "  came  to  be  the  highest  nobiliary  title  next  to 
that  of  the  King's  son,  and  was  translated  as  "Prince."  "Zhupan"  was 
"Count."  The  title  "Knez,"  with  some  prefix,  was  used  to  indicate 
different  official  posts.  In  modern  Senna,  before  it  became  a  kingdom, 
the  Prince  Ruler  was  called  "Knez"  and  the  village  mayor  was  called 
"Seoski-Knez." 


202  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

The  sources  of  Crown  and  State  revenues  were 
many: 

(1)  Crown  lands  or  State  domains.  These  lands 
were  not  bestowed  by  the  Ruler  in  fief  upon  the 
members  of  the  Nobility,  but  were  kept  under  direct 
Crown  administration,  the  holders  being  called 
"Tzarske  lyudi"  (Imperial  folk)  under  the  empire 
and  "Kralyevske  lyudi"  under  the  kingdom.  The 
revenues  from  these  lands  were  paid  into  the  State 
Treasury. 

(2)  The  tax  called  "Sotje,"  levied  on  the  land 
(in  recognition  of  the  legal  fiction  by  which  the 
State  is  the  owner  of  the  land),  was  paid  by  all 
classes  alike.  It  was  levied  on  the  house  or 
"hearth,"  and  paid  either  in  "kind"  or  in  coin. 
The  amount  of  the  tax,  whether  in  "kind"  or  coin, 
was  fixed  by  law. 

(3)  Customs  dues,  which  were  paid  in  the  form  of 
toll  on  bridges  and  roads  or  trade  licenses,  applied 
to  individuals  or  market-places  near  towns  or  to 
monasteries  or  places  near  the  border. 

(4)  The  revenue  called  "Srbski  dohodak"  (Ser- 
vian income),  which  was  a  fixed  contribution  paid  by 
the  Republic  and  merchants  of  Ragusa,  in  lieu  of  all 
separate  trade  licenses.  It  gave  them  the  right  to 
trade  freely  throughout  the  Servian  Realm,  and 
guaranteed  to  them  security  under  the  protection  of 
the  Servian  State  authorities. 

(5)  Fines  and  penalties  imposed  by  the  courts  of 
justice,  which  were  called  "Globa,"  were  paid  in  the 
earlier  period  in  live  stock,  horses  or  oxen,  and  in 
later  times  in  money. 


STATE   AND    CROWN   REVENUES    203 

(6)  Mining  industries  and  coinage  of  money. 
The  income  from  these  sources,  especially  from  the 
rich  gold  and  silver  mines,  was  very  large.  The 
Servian  "Despot,"  Djouradj  Voukovich  Brankovich, 
obtained  a  yearly  income  from  the  Kopaonik  mines 
alone  of  200,000  ducats  (representing  about  half 
a  million  dollars)  in  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth 
century. 

(7)  Under  the  obligation  of  hospitality,  called 
"priselitza,"  all  communities,  monasteries,  towns, 
and  nobles  gave  free  hospitality,  during  one  day  and 
one  night,  to  the  Ruler  or  members  of  his  family,  or 
high  State  officials,  to  foreign  embassies,  the  army, 
or  to  travellers  or  merchantmen.  It  was  necessary 
to  afford  to  the  imperial  convoy  or  to  the  embassies, 
State  dignitaries,  etc.,  transport  facilities  and  safe 
personal  conduct  through  the  territory  or  across  the 
estate,  according  to  the  limits  and  conditions  fixed 
by  law. 

(8)  In  case  of  public  necessity,  or  for  the  construc- 
tion of  public  works  or  buildings,  the  Ruler  had  the 
right  to  call  upon  every  or  any  subject  in  the  Realm, 
noble  or  other,  only  the  clergy  and  their  tenants 
in  earlier  times  being  exempt,  to  contribute  time  and 
personal  work  or  to  provide  substitutes  for  such 
services. 

(9)  In  emergency  extra  taxes  were  sometimes 
levied  called  "podantzi"  and  "na-metzi";  and 
during  the  period  of  defence  against  the  Turks,  a  tax 
called  "Ouncha"  for  armaments  and  other  means  of 
defence,  and  the  "Turk-tax"  for  the  payment  of 
Tribute-money. 


204  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 


3.    ADMINISTRATIVE     DIVISIONS     WITH      LOCAL      SELF- 
GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  FAMILY  AS  A  SOCIAL  UNIT 

The  adminstrative  divisions  having  local  self  gov- 
ernment were  the  Zhupa  or  County  and  its  sub- 
divisions, the  Village  and  "Grad,"  districts. 

The  Zhupa  (County). — In  the  earliest  times  each 
Zhupa  was  a  small  State,  which  during  the  period  of 
unification  of  Serb  lands  into  a  great  whole  was  trans- 
formed and  by  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  cen- 
turies came  to  represent  merely  an  administrative 
division  of  the  State  or  Empire. 

Zhupa  and  Pleme  were  originally  interchangeable 
terms  meaning  the  territory  occupied  by  the  Plemes. 
In  the  later  period  these  two  terms  became  disasso- 
ciated, Pleme  referring  no  longer  to  the  inhabitants  of  a 
Zhupa,  but  being  restricted  to  mean  merely  "family." 

All  that  remained  in  the  fourteenth  century  of  the 
original  organisation  of  the  Zhupa  was  the  "Zhupa 
Common,"  grazing  and  forest  lands;  duties  common 
to  all;  and  common  responsibility  for  public  order. 

Articles  74,  75,  and  76  of  the  Code  Doushan  clearly 
says  that  all  grazing  and  forest  lands  not  private 
property  ("Zabel,"  i.  e.,  with  proved  title)  belong  in 
common  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  Zhupa. 

From  the  earliest  days  there  was  at  a  central 
point  in  the  Zhupa  a  fortified  castle  called  "Grad," 
about  which  in  certain  cases,  and  always  in  mining 
districts,  gathered  a  settlement  or  town  the  purlieus 
of  which  formed  the  town  district.  This  organ- 
isation of  a  fortified  Zhupa  stronghold  persisted  up 


LOCAL   GOVERNMENT  205 

to  the  fifteenth  century.  Article  127  of  the  Code 
Doushan  says  that  when  a  Grad  or  a  Tower  (fortifi- 
cation) is  destroyed  the  townsmen  and  the  whole 
Zhupa  shall  rebuild  the  Grad  or  Tower.  Some- 
times church  domains  and  their  tenants  were  exempt 
from  this  duty. 

The  inhabitants  of  a  Zhupa  (called  Zhuplanyi)  had 
to  furnish  transport  service  to  the  imperial  convoys 
"from  Grad  to  Zhupa,  thence  to  the  border  of  the 
Zhupa,  and  thence  across  the  next  Zhupa  to  its  Grad" 
(Article  60).  The  church  domains  and  their  tenants 
were  (Article  23)  not  exempt  from  these  transport 
duties.  All  personal  services  and  expenses  on  such 
occasions  were  equally  distributed  among  the  houses 
of  the  Zhupa. 

The  joint  responsibility  of  the  Zhupa  in  all  matters 
of  public  order  was  established  by  Articles  58,  126, 
158,  and  191,  which  decreed  that  in  case  of  crimes 
committed  by  persons  unknown,  complete  reparation 
shall  be  made  to  sufferers  by  the  Zhupa.  These 
articles  clearly  indicate  that  the  Zhupa  was  made  re- 
sponsible for  its  own  policing. 

This  common  responsibility,  as  well  as  the  equal 
distribution  of  Zhupa  taxes  and  charges,  called 
Priplata,  not  coming  directly  under  the  State's  admin- 
istration, were  dealt  with  by  the  Zhupa  assembly. 

The  territory  of  a  Zhupa  was  either  the  bashtina1 
of  a  Prince  or  great  noble,  or  a  pronya,1  or  it  might  be 
made  up  of  any  of  the  three  kinds  of  property,  im- 
perial or  royal,  church,  or  a  noble's  bashtina.  In 
case  the  whole  Zhupa  was  the  bashtina  of  one  of  the 

1  For  pronya  and  bashtina  see  page  223  under  Property. 


206  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

great  lords,  or  if  it  was  as  a  whole  bestowed  in  pronya 
the  Bashtiniks  or  the  Pronyars  (Articles  108,  134, 
149,  Code  Doushan)  were  the  State's  administrators 
of  the  Zhupa.  Should  the  Zhupa  be  mixed  or  com- 
posed of  more  than  one  kind  of  tenure  (Article  157), 
the  administrator  of  the  Zhupa  was  the  governor  of 
the  Grad,  called  "Tjephalia"  (from  the  Greek 
Kephalia — captain) . 

The  "Grad"  {Town). — In  mediaeval  Servia  there 
were  no  towns  in  the  modern  sense.  The  "Grads" 
or  castles  were  of  two  kind,  the  fortified  castle  at  a 
central  point  of  the  Zhupa,  and  the  fortified  strong- 
hold built  for  the  protection  of  the  markets  at  cross- 
roads or  some  mining  centre.  The  latter  was  the 
only  kind  which  formed  a  town— the  Zhupa  castle 
did  not  gather  about  it  a  town.  The  castle  of  the 
Zhupa,  fortified  like  all  others  of  the  period  with  high 
walls  and  a  moat,  was  the  place  of  residence  of  the 
Bashtinik  or  Pronyar  of  the  Zhupa,  or  of  the  State's 
administrator,  the  Tjephalia  (captain)  or  governor. 
There  was  always  within  its  walls  a  strong  military 
guard  used  to  keep  watch  over  the  Zhupa  and  police  it. 
There  also  resided  the  learned  judges  when  they  were 
not  on  "circuit."  When  the  country  was  attacked 
by  an  enemy  the  inhabitants  were  received  within  the 
walls  of  the  fortifications,  and  the  Zhupan  defended 
the  place.  It  was  rare  that  market-places  or  any 
commercial  life  grouped  itself  about  the  castle,  unless 
the  castle  chanced  to  be  situated  near  mines  or  great 
commercial  roads.  The  other  kind  of  Grad,  gather- 
ing about  it  a  "town,"  was  usually  built  on  some 
high   or  dominant  point  for  the  protection  of  the 


LOCAL   GOVERNMENT  207 

mines,  or  as  natural  trading-places.  These  towns 
were  inhabited  chiefly  by  Saxons,  who  were  the 
miners,  and  Ragusans  or  other  merchants  of  the  lit- 
toral. The  home  Servians  were  slow  to  come  to  live 
in  these  agglomerations.  Outside  of  the  Grad  walls, 
generally  on  the  hill-slopes,  were  the  small  houses, 
usually  of  wood,  ranged  around  an  open  space,  upon 
which  fronted  the  church  in  stone  or  brick.  To-day 
the  ruins  of  fortresses  and  of  the  churches  outside  the 
walls  indicate  the  situation  of  these  towns.  This  town 
"at  the  foot"  of  the  Grad  was  called  "po-gradje." 
There  lived  the  miners,  or  commercial  people,  mer- 
chants, and  handicraftsmen.  All  of  these  men  could 
at  choice  live  in  the  village  or  rural  communities  in- 
stead of  in  the  town,  except  the  goldsmiths,  who  were 
obliged  to  live  in  the  "Grad"  (po-gradje)  or  Trgo- 
vishtiye  (Trg  is  market).  "If  a  goldsmith  is  found 
in  a  selo  [village]  the  selo  shall  be  punished  by  being 
dispersed"  (Articles  168,  169,  Code  Doushan).  This 
drastic  regulation  is  supposed  to  have  been  aimed  at 
the  prevention  of  the  illegal  coinage  of  money. 

The  townsmen  were  mostly  of  foreign  origin,  and 
were  generally  either  those  who  had  settled  in  the 
country  and  had  acquired  property  (bashtina),  or 
those  who  were  still  what  were  called  "Guests." 
The  whole  population  of  a  po-gradje  or  trgovishtiye 
was  under  the  direct  administration  of  the  Tjephalia 
of  the  Grad.  "The  Tjephalia  shall  levy  as  income 
a  tax  [on  the  townsmen]  fixed  by  the  law.  He  shall 
also  have  the  right  to  buy  [what  he  needs]  for  one 
dinar  what  others  pay  two  dinars  for,  .  .  .  but  he  can 
only  buy  from  the  townsmen"  (Article  63).     Accord- 


208  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

ing  to  Article  127,  the  townsmen  had  to  keep  the  Grad 
in  repair,  help  guard  it  and  defend  it  in  danger.  A 
document  of  Knez  (Tsar)  Lazar  Hrebelianovich  to 
the  Ragusans  in  1387  says:  "The  Ragusans,  mer- 
chants, or  handicraftsmen  who  have  bashtina  [free 
inheritable  property]  in  the  Grad  of  Novo  Brdo,  shall 
be  under  obligation  to  rebuild  or  repair  the  Grad 
and  guard  it;  only  those  who  still  are  'guests'  and 
have  not  bought  any  bashtina  shall  perform  these 
duties  or  not  as  they  choose."  ' 

Towns,  in  a  modern  sense,  as  a  place  of  residence, 
came  into  Servia  only  with  the  Turks,  and  under  the 
Turkish  regime  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns  were  all 
Moslems. 

Selo  (Village  or  Rural  Community). — The  Zhupa 
was  composed  of  rural  communities  or  settlements 
called  " selos "  (villages).  Each  selo  occupying  its  own 
territory  was  a  distinct  corporate  unit.  In  earliest 
times  each  selo  was  identified  with  a  family  group  or 
Rod.  Such  selos  of  Rod  origin  are  referred  to  in 
the  "Monumenta  Serbica,"  pp.  144,  191,  196,  197, 
and  198,  naming  "Stoyanovci,"  "Smilyovci,"  "Ra- 
danovci,"  "Deyovci"  (i.  e.,  descendants  of  Stoyan, 
Smilyan,  etc.),  but  in  general  the  rural  communities 
were  not  any  longer  representative  of  a  single  family. 
At  a  later  period,  under  the  Turkish  rule,  family 
village  groupings  again  occurred. 

The  boundaries  on  selo  lands  were  clearly  defined, 
as  is  seen  in  documents  of  the  time ;  they  were  streams, 

1  "Monumenta  Serbica,"  p.  206;  ibid.,  p.  208;  recapitulation  by  Despot 
George  Voukovich-Brankovich,  ibid.,  p.  52.  Similar  document  by  King 
Stephan  Urosh,  1240-1272. 


LOCAL   GOVERNMENT  209 

valleys,  roads,  ditches,  trees,  houses,  and  even  certain 
"acres"  of  well-known  persons.  "Where  no  natural 
border-line  existed,  such  bournes  were  set  up  in  hewn 
stone.  A  judgment  concerning  a  boundary  dispute 
given  by  Prince  George  Tsrnoyevitch  of  Zeta,  1494, 
deals  with  the  boundary  limits  of  the  village  lands 
of  a  nobleman,  Ilyia  Lyeshovitch.  The  jury  was 
composed  of  twenty-four  noblemen;  upon  the  fixing 
of  the  limits  under  "tte-^tt-pervision  of  the  Pristav 
(sheriff)  Kosyier,  "the  bourne  stones  were  fixed  by 
master  stone-mason  Ostoyia." 

The  houses  in  a  Servian  village  of  that  period  were 
rarely  closely  set  together,  but  more  often  the  selo 
community  was  made  up  of  many  loose  and  straggling 
groups,  or  of  clusters  of  two  or  three  houses  scattered 
widely  over  the  lands  of  the  community. 

The  delimitation  of  the  land  occupied  by  the  selo 
was  intimately  connected  with  the  duties  and  respon- 
sibilities of  that  community.  The  village  was  put 
under  obligation  to  maintain  public  order,  and  was 
liable  to  be  punished  and  subject  to  fine  and  payment 
of  damages  in  case  of  incendiarism  (Article  100). 
In  the  event  of  "  Vrazhda"  (murder),  "if  the  assassin 
is  unknown  or  cannot  be  discovered,  the  community  is 
fined  five  hundred  perpers."  Sometimes  "Vrazhda" 
was  the  act  of  disinterring  a  body  of  the  dead  and 
burning  it,  which  was  done  as  the  result  of  a  super- 
stitious belief  found  in  Balkan  lands  among  the  more 
ignorant  people,  according  to  which  some  unseen 
physical  emanation  or  body  comes  from  the  grave  to 
fasten  on  the  living  and  suck  away  their  blood  or  life 
forces.     That  kind  of  "Vrazhda,"  due  to  belief  in 


210  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

vampires,  was  punishable  by  a  fine  of  five  hundred 
perpers  levied  on  the  community.  If  any  priest  was 
found  taking  part  in  such  proceedings  he  was  dis- 
missed from  the  priesthood  (Article  20).  The  meas- 
ure was  intended  to  destroy  the  superstition. 

In  case  any  animals,  horses,  or  cattle  should  be 
killed  or  maliciously  injured  in  passing  through  the 
village  domains,  the  selo  community  was  held  to 
make  entire  compensation  to  the  owners  (Article  199). 

Article  92  says  that  if  a  horse  has  been  stolen  and 
its  owner  discovers  it  with  a  rider  on  its  back,  both 
the  horse  and  man  shall  be  taken  to  the  nearest  village, 
which  shall  deliver  them,  horse  and  rider,  to  the  judge 
for  trial.  A  penalty  of  fifty  perpers,  called  "potka" 
(Article  77),  was  imposed  on  any  village  failing  to 
perform  that  duty.  Articles  58,  144,  and  191  deal 
similarly  with  cases  of  punishments  and  fines  imposed 
on  villages  for  failure  to  protect  public  order  and 
secure  punishment  of  the  criminal. 

The  nearest  surrounding  villages  to  unoccupied 
land  outside  of  any  village  domains  are  held  respon- 
sible for  the  maintaining  of  order  and  the  policing  of 
those  regions;  and  the  communities  are  all  jointly 
punished  by  fines  or  otherwise  should  crimes  be  com- 
mitted in  those  unowned  lands  (Article  58). 

Article  145  says:  "In  all  Zhupas,  Grads,  and  Kra- 
yinas  there  shall  not  be  any  robber  or  thief.  Any 
village  which  fails  to  deliver  up,  or  protects,  a  robber 
or  thief  shall  be  dispersed."  The  same  punishment 
of  dispersal  and  confiscation  by  the  State  of  all 
property  (Article  111)  was  meted  out  to  any  village 
that  refused  to  execute  the  orders  of  a  judge  or  pre- 


LOCAL  GOVERNMENT  211 

vented  such  execution.  The  same  punishment  was 
inflicted  on  any  selo  permitting  a  goldsmith  to  settle 
within  its  boundaries  (Article  168). 

It  is  probable  that  the  "selishtye,"  places  where 
villages  once  stood,  not  only  mark  sites  razed  by 
war,  but  are  sometimes  due  to  the  punishment  of 
dispersal  visited  by  the  law  on  an  erring  village. 

Concerning  the  common  corporate  rights  of  the 
village,  research  has  not  been  able  to  establish  any 
facts  clearly;  but  the  surmise  is  that  such  rights  ex- 
isted. In  the  Archangel  deeds  of  grant,  Emperor 
Doushan  uses  the  expression:  "The  selo  Yelkovatz 
within  its  limits  and  all  its  rights." 

The  rights  may  have  referred  to  forest  and  grazing- 
land  privileges  in  the  Zhupa  outside  of  the  village 
domains.  Among  the  general  duties  of  a  rural  com- 
munity as  a  corporate  unit  was  the  "priselitza" 
(hospitality),  the  duty  incumbent  on  a  village  (in 
addition  to  the  Zhupa  "priselitza")  to  lodge  and 
feed  members  of  the  reigning  family,  high  state 
officials,  foreign  ambassadors,  and  the  part  provision- 
ing of  the  army,  men  and  horses,  etc.  All  the  articles 
of  the  Code  Doushan  regulating  this  matter  show 
plainly  that  the  law  was  mindful  to  prevent  the  abuse 
of  that  "hospitality"  in  order  that  it  should  not  be- 
come burdensome  to  the  selos.  Article  133  says: 
"If  an  ambassador  passes  a  village  on  his  way  to  and 
fro  to  see  the  Sovereign,  he  may  stop  in  the  village 
one  night  and  have  a  morning  and  evening  meal  [for 
himself  and  train],  but  he  can  ask  for  no  more,  and 
must  pass  on  to  the  next  village."  Article  187  says 
that  if  the  Emperor,  the  Empress,  or  any  member  of 


212  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

the  Sovereign  family  stops  at  a  village  overnight,  no 
other  person  following  them  shall  ask  hospitality; 
such  a  traveller  must  pay  the  price  sevenfold  of  what 
he  takes.  The  abuse  of  "Priselitza"  (hospitality) 
by  officials  or  others  having  such  right  was  liable 
(Article  57)  to  be  punished  by  dismissal  from  their 
posts  and  loss  of  their  property  holdings. 

In  the  study  of  rural  communities  an  important 
difference  is  seen  between  selo  and  katoun.  The 
difference  was  sharply  accentuated  in  the  earlier 
period,  but  in  the  fifteenth  century  the  difference  has 
disappeared  and  the  terms  are  interchangeable. 

The  selo1  was  the  rural  community  of  agricul- 
turalists. The  katoun  was  the  settlement  of  the  stock- 
raisers,  who  ranged  their  herds  far  over  the  country, 
returning  sometimes  after  months  to  their  homes  in 
the  katouns. 

All  documentary  evidence  indicates  that  both  selo 
and  katoun  were,  in  their  inner  organisation  and  ad- 
ministration, self-governing.  They  possessed  a  vil- 
lage assembly  called  "Zbor."  A  document  of  King 
Stephan  Detchanski  ("  Monumenta  Serbica")  says,  in 
relation  to  a  litigation  in  a  border  dispute,  that  "there 
were  present  at  the  trial  the  Judge  Bogdan,  the 
jury,  the  witnesses,  and  the'Zbors'  of  the  [contending] 
villages.  .  .  ." 

1  Documentary  evidence  shows  that  in  the  rural  communities  called 
selo  there  were  often  from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred  koutchas  (houses 
or  households),  but  generally  they  numbered  from  fifty  to  seventy.  There 
were  never  fewer  than  twenty,  each  household  averaging  from  ten  to  forty 
members.  The  katouns,  rural  communities  of  the  stock-breeders,  num- 
bered from  twenty  to  fifty  households,  which  were  often  single  families, 
numbering  less  therefore  by  household  than  in  the  selos  composed  of 
agriculturalists. 


LOCAL  GOVERNMENT  213 

All  documents  appear  to  indicate  that  in  all  cases 
of  local  petty  disputes  among  themselves  the  in- 
habitants of  the  selos  or  katouns  went  before  a  small 
jury  or  committee  of  arbitration  called  "conscientious" 
or  "good  men"  (dobri  lyudi),  nominated  by  them- 
selves, and  presided  over  by  the  village  elder.  This 
institution  of  self-administrated  justice  has  survived 
in  the  rural  communities  of  Serb  lands  through  the 
centuries  and  is  found  among  them  even  to-day. 
There  are  still  to-day  in  Montenegro  and  other  Serb 
regions  the  "dobri  lyudi/' 

There  is  no  evidence  to  show  that  the  administra- 
tion of  the  Servian  State,  or  even  that  of  the  Zhupa, 
ever  interfered  in  the  local  self-government  of  the 
rural  communities.  Article  146  of  the  Code  Doushan 
gives  only  the  titles  of  the  village  elders  in  the  differ- 
ent districts  as  representing  the  rural  communities. 
There  are  mentioned  "Seoski  knez"  (village  chief), 
a  title  which  existed  up  to  the  nineteenth  century; 
"permitchur"  (premier-man),  from  the  Greek 
TrpifjLiKijpios ;  "predstoynik"  (standing  first);  "Seoski 
vladalatz"  (village  ruler);  and  "Seoski  Chelnik" 
(village  headman). 

House  (Koutcha). — The  units  composing  the  Grad, 
Selo,  or  Katoun  were  the  "Koutcha"  (house). 
That  term  applied  legally,  not  to  the  building  espe- 
cially, but  to  the  family.  In  all  matters  of  economic 
ordinance,  taxes  and  duties  and  privileges,  obliga- 
tions toward  public  order,  crime  and  punishment, 
etc.,  the  law  and  the  State  held  the  Koutcha,  or 
family,  primarily  responsible;  the  individual  was  a 
secondary  consideration.     The  Archangel  document 


214  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

says:  "...  They  [villagers]  shall  'robot'  [for  the 
monastery]  two  days  in  the  week,"  and  "dimitzom" 
pro  fumo — i.  e.,  to  furnish  one  worker  by  "smoke- 
stack." Another  document  says:  "They  shall  work 
for  the  holy  church  two  days  weekly,  each  Kout- 
cha.  .  ." — i.  e.,  each  family  or  household  to  furnish 
one  worker  for  two  days  each  week. 

Article  66  says:  "If  a  koutcha  is  cited  to  appear 
before  a  court  of  justice  by  a  sheriff  or  other  '  Judge's 
man,'  the  koutcha  shall  have  the  right  to  send  any 
one  of  the  'bratenci'  [brothers  or  cousins  living  in 
that  koutcha  in  Zadruga]  to  answer  for  the  whole 
koutcha.  If  a  member  of  the  koutcha  is  found  near 
the  precincts  of  the  court,  and  receives  the  citation, 
he  cannot  be  forced  to  appear  for  his  house,  but  has 
the  right  to  send  'his  elder  brother'  [the  head  of  the 
Zadruga]  to  answer  the  charge." 

Article  71  reads:  "If  a  crime  is  committed  by 
one  of  those  living  in  one  house,  be  he  brother, 
son,  or  relative,  the  head  of  the  house  shall  answer 
for  it,  pay  the  fine,  or  deliver  the  guilty  one  to  the 
court." 

It  is  evident,  however,  that  the  Zadruga  of  Kout- 
chas,  or  family  with  its  descendants  and  collateral 
relatives  in  joint  property,  was  not  the  only  family 
formation.  There  was  the  "inocosna,"  or  single 
family  with  joint  property.  There  was  also  the 
family  group  joined  by  blood  ties  living  around  the 
same  central  hearth,  but  with  separate  individual 
property,  "separate  in  bread  and  goods,"  as  it  was 
called,  or  the  single  family  with  separate  property 
rights  as  is  common  to-day  elsewhere. 


THE   SOVEREIGN   AND   COURT      215 

Article  70  says:  "In  cases  where  those  living  about 
a  central  hearth,  sons  of  one  father,  sons  of  brothers, 
or  other  relatives,  hold  their  property  'separate  in 
bread  and  goods/  each  separate  portion  of  the 
property  shall  furnish  one  man's  'robot'  [work]." 

Article  52  provides  that  in  case  of  "disloyalty"  or 
"crime,"  no  brother  for  brother,  nor  father  for  son, 
nor  relative  for  relative,  shall  be  responsible,  if  they 
live  in  separate  houses  and  are  innocent;  .  .  .  only 
the  house  of  the  guilty  person  shall  pay  the  fine  etc. 

Stoyan  Novakovitch  calculates  that  the  households 
or  koutchas,  inmates  of  the  central  house  and  its 
surrounding  vayats,  counted  as  many  as  from  thir- 
teen to  twenty  male  members  alone. 

4.    THE    SOVEREIGN    AND    THE    COURT 

The  rights  of  succession  to  the  throne  in  the  Ser- 
vian ruling;  family  according  to  the  old  Servian  cus- 
torn  belonged  to  the  eldest  member  of  the  family. 
Many  Servian  rulers  tried  to  break  that  law  and 
leave  their  thrones  to  their  sons,  which  was  the  occa- 
sion of  many  civil  wars,  and  sometimes  the  seizure 
of  the  throne  took  place  by  usurpation  and  not  in 
legal  line  of  succession.  The  Nemanyas,  in  order 
to  preserve  the  throne  to  their  sons,  adopted  the 
method  of  causing  them  to  be  publicly  consecrated 
and  acclaimed  as  their  successors. 

To  the  Ruler's  son,  so  consecrated,  was  given  at 
time  of  consecration  a  province  to  rule.  It  was 
generally  Zeta  (modern  Tzernagora,  i.  e.,  Monte- 
negro)   or    Rashka.     The    consecrated    heir    to    the 


216  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

throne,  besides  his  baptised  Christian  name,  assumed 
the  name  of  "Stephan,"  the  Greek  equivalent  for  the 
Latin  "Augustus,"  which  remained  joined  to  his 
other  name  when  he  came  to  the  throne. 

The  Servian  Rulers  in  early  times  had  no  fixed 
capital.  With  the  extension  of  Servian  territories 
southward  the  capital  moved  southward  from  Rashka 
to  Prishtina  and  Prisren,  then  to  Skoplyia  (Uskub). 
With  the  loss  of  those  southern  lands  the  capital  was 
removed  first  to  Krushevatz;  then  to  the  Castle  of 
Boratch  (now  in  ruins)  and  Belgrade;  then  to  Se- 
mendria  (Smederevo). 

The  Emperor  Doushan  lived  at  the  castles  of 
Rashka,  Prishtina,  the  Grad  of  Prisren,  at  Skoplyia 
(to-day,  Uskub),  and  at  Seres  in  Macedonia.  The 
old  Uskub  was  wilfully  destroyed  and  burned  in 
1689  by  Austrian  troops.  General  Piccolomini  in 
command  of  them,  declared  the  city  to  have  been 
one  of  the  most  marvellous  sights  for  beauty  which 
he  had  ever  beheld.  It  was  then  what  the  Servians 
had  made  it,  a  place  of  marble  splendour,1  where 
was  convoked  the  National  Assembly  which  in  1346 
proclaimed  the  Empire,  and  where  the  same  Assem- 
bly, under  the  presidency  of  the  Servian  Emperor, 
elaborated  and  promulgated  the  Code  Doushan. 

The  famous  painting2  "The  Crowning  of  the 
Emperor  Doushan" — an  enormous  canvas  now  the 
property  of  the  State,  in  which  the  Servian  artist 
Paya  Iovanovich,  with  exact  historical  detail,  repre- 

1  As  it  stands  rebuilt  at  the  present  time,  it  is  only  an  ordinary  Turkish 
town  on  the  railway  line  from  Belgrade  to  Salonika. 

2  Exhibited  at  the  Paris  Exhibition  in  1900,  and  afterward  in  1907  in 
London.     See  frontispiece. 


THE   SOVEREIGN   AND   COURT      217 

sents  the  event,  is  an  impressive  and  splendid  pic- 
ture of  royal  magnificence.  The  gorgeous  and  beau- 
tiful costumes  of  the  Emperor,  the  Empress,  and  their 
little  son  the  young  King;  the  robes  of  the  Patriarch 
and  the  Archbishops  and  Bishops,  of  the  high  officers 
of  State,  the  military  leaders  and  other  soldiers;  the 
harness  of  the  horses;  the  graceful  ecmjers,  and  all 
the  acessories,  show  forth  an  Imperial  Court  second 
to  none  in  stately  grandeur. 

Such  was  the  Court  of  the  old  Servian  Empire 
under  Doushan. 

Tsar  Lazar  Hrebelianovich  lived  at  Krushevatz, 
to-day  in  central  Servia  on  the  western  Morava 
River  near  the  railway  line  not  far  to  the  north-west 
of  Nish.  There  to-day  are  the  ruins  of  the  "White 
Tower"  of  the  ballads,  from  which  the  Tsarina 
Militza  leaned  to  strain  her  eyes  toward  the  battle- 
field of  Kossovo.  Near  that  place  is  the  monastery 
built  by  this  storied  daughter  of  the  Nemaniads,  and 
where  her  ashes  now  repose.  At  Krushevatz,  too, 
stands  in  good  repair  the  church  built  by  Tsar  Lazar 
called  the  "Lazaritza."  Within  its  walls  still  gather 
the  faithful,  and  before  its  holy  altars  rise  incense  and 
worship  from  true  Servian  hearts  to-day  as  of  old. 

The  symbols  of  the  Sovereign's  supreme  authority 
were  the  sceptre,  the  purple  mantle  which  was  worn 
over  a  "Dalmatica,"  '  the  throne  chair,  the  diadem 

1  Hamilton  Jackson  gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  origin  and  use 
of  the  "  Dalmatica"  robe  in  his  book  on  the  eastern  shores  of  the  Adriatic. 
He  says  that  this  garment,  which  was  the  ordinary  costume  of  the  Dal- 
matian dignitaries  and  headmen,  was  introduced  in  Rome  by  the  Roman 
Emperor  Decius  "the  Illyrian"  (a  Dalmatian),  and  was  worn  by  the 
nobles  of  the  Court  of  Valerian.  The  Emperor  Commodus  sometimes 
wore  it  on  occasions  of  solemnity.     S.  Cyprian,  who  succeeded  Donatus 


218  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

of  State  or  Crown,  the  Sword  of  State,  and  the 
national  flag  called  "Steg." 

The  Court  of  the  Servian  rulers  in  the  main  outline 
of  formula  and  order  of  ceremonial  was  modelled 
after  that  of  the  Byzantine  emperors.  However,  in 
certain  regards  exemplifying  the  old  Servian  ideas 
recognising  the  right  of  the  individual  to  self-respect, 
the  ceremonial  at  the  Servian  royal  or  imperial 
Court  differed  essentially  from  that  of  the  Byzantine. 

For  instance,  at  Constantinople  the  rule  was  that 
when  a  great  noble  or  prince  came  into  the  presence 
of  the  Emperor  he  advanced,  bowed,  knelt,  and  kissed 
the  Emperor's  thigh  and  then  his  knee.  When  a 
commoner  came  into  the  Byzantine  ruler's  presence 
he  prostrated  himself  to  the  earth. 

At  the  Servian  Court,  when  a  prince  or  great  noble 
entered  the  Imperial  Presence,  he  stood  erect,  the 
Servian  Emperor  advanced  to  him,  and  placing  his 
hand  on  the  noble's  shoulder,  the  noble  doing  the 
same  to  him,  the  ruler  kissed  him  on  the  temple, 
while  he  did  the  same  to  the  Sovereign.  When  a  com- 
moner came  before  the  Servian  Emperor  he  simply 
stood  erect  after  kissing  the  hand  of  the  Sovereign. 
There  was  no  servility  either  in  form  or  in  idea. 

as  Bishop  of  Carthage,  speaks  of  its  use  as  an  ancient  thing.  It  was  ac- 
cepted as  the  Eucharistic  vestment  in  North  Africa  and  worn  by  Bishops. 
S.  Eutychian,  Pope  in  275,  ordered  the  alternative  use  of  the  dalmatica 
for  clothing  the  bodies  of  martyrs  with  the  "colobium"  (a  long  tunic  of 
crimson  silk),  which  had  been  in  use.  The  dalmatica  was  first  worn  by 
the  celebrant,  but  when  the  chasuble  came  into  use  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  it  became  the  vestment  of  the  deacons.  S.  Symmachus  conceded 
to  S.  Csesarius  Bishop  of  Orleans  in  508,  as  a  favour,  that  his  deacons 
might  wear  the  dalmatica,  and  S.  Gregory  granted  the  same  privilege  to 
the  archdeacons  of  the  Franks.  At  a  later  period  the  use  of  the  dalmat- 
ica was  granted  to  Kings  for  their  coronation. 


GENERAL  SOCIAL   CONDITIONS     219 


O.    SOCIAL    CONDITIONS    IN    GENERAL 

Every  Serb  or  subject  of  the  Servian  State  was 
recognised  by  the  law  in  both  his  personal  and  real 
status — that  is,  in  his  individual  and  property  rights 
involving  privileges  and  duties. 

The  status  of  "slave"  or  "right-less"  person,  as 
being  the  property  of  another  individual,  was  abso- 
lutly  unknown  in  all  epochs  to  the  Servian  State  and 
social  organisation.1 

During  those  early  centuries  called  the  Dark  Ages 
in  Europe,  when  throughout  Western  countries 
all  privileges  and  enjoyment  were  held  by  the  pos- 
sessing classes  and  all  duties  and  pains  were  borne 
by  the  enslaved  masses,  the  Servian  State  was  not 
able  to  maintain  in  their  integrity  the  ancient  Servian 
race  ideals  of  equality 

The  Servian  people  came  to  be  separated  into  three 
main  divisions: 

(1)  The  Nobility,  great  or  territorial,  called  "Veli- 
ka  Vlastela,"  and  the  lesser  nobilitv,  "Mala  Vlas- 
tela,"  including  State  and  military  officials. 

(2)  The  higher  and  lower  Monastic  Clergy. 

(3)  Commoners  or  non-nobles,  called  "Sebar" 
or  "Sebri,"  townsmen,  and  villagers  (who  were 
agriculturalists  or  cattle-breeders). 

The  entire  population,  whether  nobility  or  com- 
moners,   possessed    hereditary    property    rights    and 

1  See  page  267  for  international  communications  and  remonstrances  of 
the  Servian  princes,  kings,  and  emperors  in  protection  of  individual 
liberty  and  condemning  slavery  and  slave-trade,  which  in  those  times  was 
common  in  other  lands  of  Europe. 


220  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 


freehold  property  called  "bashtina."  All  were  alike 
direct  subjects  of  the  Crown  and  all  alike  pos- 
sessed the  right  before  justice  to  be  adjudged  by 
their  peers.  Justice  was  dispensed  by  the  Crown 
through  imperial  or  royal  judges — aided  by  a  jury. 
All  adjustments  of  privileges  and  duties  as  between 
landlord  and  tenant,  servitudes  incumbent  on  the 
land,  etc.,  were  strictly  fixed  by  law. 

In  the  earlier  period  the  "Sebri"  (through  their 
house  representatives),  as  well  as  the  nobility 
and  higher  clergy,  formed  part  of  the  National 
Assembly.  During  the  later  period  the  nobility 
and  clergy  had  alone  the  right  to  sit  in  the  Nat- 
ional Assembly  or  "Sabor."  The  Sebri  had  no 
direct  national  representation,  their  political  rights 
being  restricted  to  the  local  Zhupa  and  town 
or  village  assemblies,  deliberating  solely  upon  local 
interests. 

There  are  no  documents  to  show  that  the  State 
ever  interfered  in  the  local  administration  of  the 
Zhupa  and  the  town  or  village  affairs. 

In  addition  to  the  three  great  classes  forming 
the  bulk  of  the  population  was  a  fourth  social 
division,  small  in  numbers,  called  "Otrok,"  whose 
position — the  lowest  in  the  Servian  social  hierarchy 
— approximated  that  of  a  serf.  But  the  Otrok  was 
recognised  by  the  law  in  his  personal  status  and 
individual  rights  of  family,  etc.,  and  rights  to 
possess  property.  He  was  bound  to  the  soil;  the 
owner  of  that  soil  had  the  right  of  pronouncing 
justice  in  all  disputes  and  litigation  between  the 
Otroks    themselves,    but    in    regard    to    all    other 


THE   NOBILITY  221 

offences  against  the  public  order,  such  as  fraud, 
theft,  robbery,  assault,  murder,  incendiarism,  ab- 
duction, kidnapping,  etc.,  the  Otroks  were  judged 
by  the  imperial  or  royal  courts  of  justice. 

6.   THE   NOBILITY 

A  Servian  nobleman  was  called  Vlastelin  (Holder 
of  Power).  In  a  certain  document  of  the  thirteenth 
century  the  word  "Boyarin"  or  "Boyar"  (Warrior)  is 
used.  There  were  two  orders  of  nobility:  The  Ve- 
lika  Vlastela,  or  Great  Nobles  of  the  Realm,  and  the 
Mala  Vlastela,  Lesser  Nobles  or  Provincial  Nobility, 
called  also  Ylastelitchitzi.  The  great  nobility  of 
the  Realm,  which  was  formed  of  the  families  of 
the  former  independent  Knezes  and  Zhupans, 
among  whom  were  counted  the  Patriarch,  Arch- 
bishops and  Bishops,  and  the  higher  administrative 
officials,  sat  in  the  National  Legislative  Assembly. 
The  Lesser  Nobles  or  Provincial  Nobility,  were  the 
descendants  of  the  nobility  of  the  former  indepen- 
dent Zhupas — that  is,  heads  of  the  ancient  sub- 
divisions of  the  Zhupas,  as  chiefs  of  the  Rods  and 
other  Stareshinas.  All  of  the  lesser  State  officials 
belonged  to  this  class  of  nobility.  The  lesser  nobil- 
ity had  representation  in  the  National  Assembly.  A 
difference  of  degree  in  privileges  existed  between 
the  two  orders  in  regard  to  punishments  in  the  law 
courts. 

The  crime  or  delict  was,  in  the  eyes  of  the  law,  al- 
ways the  same,  whether  committed  by  Great  Noble, 
Lesser  Noble,  or  Commoner;  the  only  discrimination 


222  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

was  in  regard  to  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  penalty 
and  punishments  inflicted. 

According  to  Article  50  of  Code  Doushan:  "If 
a  Vlastelin  insults,  injures,  or  works  dishonour  to  a 
Vlastelitchitz  he  shall  pay  a  fine  of  a  hundred  perpers.1 
If  a  member  of  the  lesser  order  is  the  offender  against 
one  of  the  great  nobles,  he  not  only  pays  as  a  penalty 
the  one  hundred  perpers,  but  he  receives  corporal 
punishment  of  several  strokes." 

The  Vlastelin  or  Great  Noble  enjoyed  certain 
privileges  of  special  deference  to  his  order.  Article 
62  of  the  Code  Doushan  provides  that  if  a  Vlastelin 
is  to  be  cited  before  a  court  of  justice,  the  judge  must 
call  him  by  special  mandate,  all  other  men  being 
cited  to  appear  by  simple  writ.  A  further  privilege 
of  the  Great  Vlastela  was  that  they  could  be  called 
upon  to  appear  before  a  court  of  justice  only  in  the 
forenoon,  never  in  the  afternoon.  The  reasons  in 
full  for  the  citation  must  be  set  forth  in  detail  in  the 
special  mandate.  If  a  Vlastelin  who  has  been  cited 
with  all  form  due  him  and  by  the  "Pristav"  (Sheriff) 
"does  not  appear  before  mid-day,  he  shall  pay  a  fine 
of  six  oxen  (Article  56)." 

All  offices  of  State,  both  great  and  small,  at  the 
Royal  or  Imperial  Court,  military,  administrative,  and 
judicial,  were  occupied  by  both  orders  of  the  nobility. 
The  high  dignitaries  of  the  Church  were  considered 
to   belong  to   the   Vlastela.     A   document   of   King 

1  According  to  Cibario  a  "perper"  is  equal  to  six  francs  in  metal  or  ten 
francs  in  "kind."  In  the  Hilendar  documents  of  King  Miloutin,  1293  or 
1303,  the  value  of  a  horse  is  set  down  as  thirty  perpers,  the  price  of  a  mare 
as  twenty  perpers.  See  also  evaluation  in  the  "Archangel"  document  of 
the  Emperor  Doushan. 


THE   NOBILITY  223 

Miloutin,  1305,  says:  ".  .  .  There  were  present  the 
Vlastela,  the  Archbishop  of  Bar  Lord  Marin,  the 
Bishop  of  Hulm  Lord  John,  the  Bishop  of  the  Zeta 
Lord  Michael.  .  .  ." 

In  addition  to  those  belonging  by  right  of  inheri- 
tance to  the  ancient  nobility  both  higher  and  lesser, 
the  Emperor  Doushan  conferred  the  privileges  of 
nobility  upon  Commoners  (Sebars)  in  recompense  for 
and  in  recognition  of  merit  or  eminent  services, 
together  with  life  interest  in  land.  The  lesser  nobil- 
ity were  also  recruited  from  the  bravest  among  the 
warriors.  They  were  invested  with  a  degree  of 
chivalry.  As  military  service  was  obligatory  and 
universal  to  all  Serbs  alike  of  whatever  class,  it  fol- 
lowed that  bravery  and  merit  opened  the  door  to  all 
distinctions  and  to  noble  rank,  even  the  highest. 

Property 

The  landed  property  of  the  nobles,  greater  and 
lesser,  was  of  two  sorts  of  holdings:  Bashtina  and 
Pronyas. 

The  hereditary  property  was  called  the  "nobles' 
Bashtina."  In  many  documents  of  Bosnian  rulers 
and  of  provincial  governors  and  in  documents  of  the 
Republic  of  Ragusa  the  correct  and  purely  Servian 
expression  "Plemenito,"  or  "Plemenshtina"  (from 
Pleme),  is  used  instead  of  "Bashtina."1 

These  bashtinas  or  plemenitos  had  for  the  greater 
part  belonged  to  the  more  ancient  nobility  from  the 

1  See  document  of  King  Stephan  Ostoya  of  Bosnia,  1399;  document  of 
Veliko  Voyvod  (Duke)  Sandal  Hranich,  1490;  document  of  Voyvod 
Djouradj,  1434,  etc. 


224  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

period  of  the  appearance  of  individual  possessory 
rights  among  Serbs;  certain  other  bashtinas  were  the 
gifts  of  kings  or  emperors  to  nobles. 

But  most  of  the  royal  and  imperial  land  grants 
were  not  "bashtina,"  but  "pronya,"  or  life-tenure — 
the  second  kind  of  noble  holding.  Pronyas  were 
bestowed  by  the  Ruler  in  return  for  public  services, 
past,  present,  or  to  be  rendered  to  the  State. 

Bashtina. — The  characteristics  of  the  nobles'  bash- 
tina were: 

First. — Full  rights  of  proprietorship  in  regard  to  the 
land,  and  mastership  of  the  "Otrok"1  on  the  soil. 

The  full  extent  of  the  protection  afforded  to  prop- 
erty rights  is  seen  clearly  in  Articles  39  and  40  of  the 
Code  Doushan,  which  say:  "Neither  the  Emperor 
nor  the  King,  his  heir  nor  the  Empress,  shall  have 
the  right  to  take  away  by  force  the  bashtina  from  a 
Bashtinik.  They  can  only  take  it  with  the  free  con- 
sent of  its  owner."  The  same  is  true  of  a  Church  or 
Church  property  held  as  bashtina:  "Neither  the 
Emperor  nor  the  Patriarch  shall  have  the  right  to 
dispossess  the  Bashtinik  and  add  that  Church  estate 
to  the  Patriarchal  estate." 

King  Stephan  Miloutin  states  with  pride  in  the 
Saint  Stephan  document,  1317,  that  he  has  not  once 
annulled  unlawfully  or  by  force  any  grant  or  deed  of 

1  Articles  44  to  46  of  the  Code  Doushan  deal  with  the  relations  between 
the  Bashtinik  (owner  of  bashtina)  and  Otroks.  See  also  further  defini- 
tions in  the  document  of  the  grant  of  the  King  of  Bosnia,  Thomas  Osto- 
jich,  1458,  to  Logothet  Stepan  (Mon.  Serb.,  p.  481),  showing  that  the 
Otrok  cannot  be  sold,  given  away,  or  disposed  of  at  the  master's  will.  In 
case  the  property  changes  hands,  the  Otrok  has  the  option  of  remaining 
on  the  land  or  of  following  the  previous  owner  of  the  land.  See  p.  264, 
"Otrok." 


THE   NOBILITY  225 

bashtina  given  by  his  forefathers,  and  that  he  has 
only  confirmed  acts  of  voluntary  sales,  gifts,  or  ex- 
changes made  by  the  owners  themselves.  In  similar 
language  speak  the  Emperor  Stephan  Doushan  in 
the  "Archangel"  document,  and  Prince  Ivan  Cerno- 
yevch  of  Zeta,  in  a  document  of  1458. 

The  bashtina  became  forfeit  to  the  State  in  case 
of  disloyalty  to  the  State  or  Ruler  on  the  part  of  its 
owner,  also  for  disobedience  to  the  laws,  refusal  to 
recognise  judicial  authority.  Article  107  says  that 
the  property  of  whosoever  shall  send  away  and  refuse 
to  obey  a  "Pristav"  (Sheriff),  or  any  other  official 
delegated  by  the  judge,  shall  be  forfeit  to  the  State. 
Article  111  also  deals  with  the  same  matter  of 
the  confiscation  of  property  as  punishment  for  con- 
tempt of  judicial  authority  or  decisions  and  orders, 
violence  to  the  judge's  dignity  or  person — "doing 
shame  to  a  judge."  Article  138  says:  "Whoever 
falsifies  by  adding  to  or  changing  the  text  of  any 
public  or  official  document,  his  property  shall  be  con- 
fiscated." Article  140  deals  with  cases  of  disloyalty 
or  high  treason.  Among  other  published  docu- 
ments of  the  period  is  that  of  "Despot"1  Stephan 
Lazarovich-IIrebelianovich,  1403,  confiscating  a  bash- 
tina.    (Belgrade  Archives). 

The  holder  of  a  bashtina  was  held  responsible  for 
public  order  within  his  domain.  Article  145  decrees: 
"There  shall  be  no  robber  or  thief.  The  village 
where  a  robber  or  thief  is  found  shall  be  dispersed, 

'The  Servian  title  "Despot,"  a  word  borrowed  from  the  Greek,  was 
the  royal  title  worn  by  the  Servian  rulers  after  the  fall  of  the  Empire, 
instead  of  Krai  or  Kin^.  which  meant  complete  sovereignty,  while  "Despot" 
inferred  the  paying  of  a  tribute  to  a  Suzerain. 


226  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

etc.  .  .  .  The  lord  of  the  village  (Bashtinik  or 
Pronyar)  shall  be  brought  bound  before  the  court 
and  shall  pay  back  all  that  was  robbed  or  stolen, 
or  he  shall  receive  the  same  punishment  as  that  meted 
to  the  robber  or  thief." 

Article  173  says:  "If  a  noble  brings  a  robber  or 
thief  in  his  train  to  the  royal  or  imperial  Court,  be 
he  Greek,  German,  or  Serb,  he  shall  receive  the  same 
punishment  as  that  meted  to  the  robber  or  thief." 

Second. — The  holder  of  a  noble  bashtina  enjoyed 
the  right  to  dispose  of  it  provided  that  he  could 
secure  the  consent  of  his  family  or  Zadruga. 

In  the  deed  of  sale  of  a  bashtina  by  the  Zhupan 
Belyak  and  the  Voyvoda  Radich  Sankovich  to 
Ragusa,  in  1391,  they  say:  ".  .  .  And  all  this  is  con- 
sented to  and  confirmed  by  all  the  undersigned,  .  .  . 
our  wives,  our  dear  sisters,  our  uncles,  .  .  .  our 
brothers,  .  .  .  for  them  and  for  their  children,  and 
all  the  descendants  of  us  all  .  .  .  all  our  Vlastela 
[noble  vassals]  ..."  etc. 

Similar  in  form  is  a  deed  of  gift,  by  the  brothers 
Roman,  Grgour,  and  Vouk  Brankovich,  1365,  to 
the  monastery  of  Hilendar. 

The  transfers  of  bashtina  property  were  not  legal 
without  the  consent  and  confirmation  of  the  ruler, 
who  embodied  the  affirmation  of  the  State  as  superior 
proprietor  of  the  whole  territory  of  the  realm.  A 
document  of  1349,  of  Emperor  Stephan  Doushan, 
reads:  "...  Sevastocrator  Deyan  prayed  my  Maj- 
esty to  consent  and  to  confirm  his  gift  of  ...  to  the 
Monastery  .  .  .  after  the  Emperor  had  taken  coun- 
sel with  the  Empress,  his  son  the  King  Urosh,  with 


THE   NOBILITY  227 

thePatriarch,alltheArchbishops,Bishops,Hegoumen, 
and  all  the  Great  and  Lesser  Vlastela,  My  Imperial 
Majesty  gave  and  wrote  this  document  consenting 
and  confirming  .  .  ."  etc.  Another  document  of 
Knez  (and  Tsar)  Lazar  Hrebelianovich,  1381,  in 
response  to  a  petition  of  the  Chelnik  (Minister  of 
State),  Musa  and  son,  confirms  a  deed  of  gift  of  land 
to  the  Russian  Monastery  of  Saint  Panteleimon. 

Third. — Full  rights  of  inheritance  restricted  to  a 
certain  line  of  succession.  The  restricting  clauses  of 
the  Code  Doushan  say  that  in  default  of  direct  heirs 
— children  and  grandchildren,  etc.— a  bashtina  could 
go  collaterally  only  to  cousins  in  the  male  line  up  to 
the  third  degree.  Other  written  documents  show 
that  if  the  deceased  had  sons,  daughters  were  ex- 
cluded, but  in  default  of  sons,  daughters  inherited. 
These  rules  applied  to  single  families.  In  regard  to  the 
Zadruga  joint  property,  daughters  were  excluded  from 
inheritance,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  they  left  the  pa- 
ternal Zadruga  upon  marriage  to  enter  as  full  mem- 
bers those  of  their  husbands.  Had  they  possessed 
property  rights  in  the  joint  estate,  the  division  of 
property  with  each  daughter's  marriage  would  have 
continually  sapped  the  strength  of  the  paternal  Za- 
druga. However,  the  law  determined  that  each 
member  of  a  Zadruga,  male  or  female,  could  possess 
and  inherit  individual  bashtina  which  was  not  a  part 
of  the  Zadruga  joint  property. 

Article  48  says  that  "if  a  Vlastelin  dies,  his  battle- 
horse  and  his  armour  go  to  the  Emperor."  (This  was 
in  affirmation  of  the  principle  whereby  the  Vlastelin, 
like  every  other  Serb,  was  the  State's  warrior  and  not 


228  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

an  independent  soldier  "warring"  on  his  own  ac- 
count, as  was  the  case  elsewhere  in  western  mediaeval 
Europe.)  Further,  the  dead  Vlastelin's  "Svita"  (gold 
and  pearl  embroidered  robe),  and  his  golden  girdle 
went  to  his  son,  and  in  default  of  a  son,  to  his 
daughter,  who  was  free  to  sell  or  give  them  away. 

The  old  Slavonic  right  of  inheritance  gave  an  equal 
share  to  each  child,  primogeniture  not  being  known, 
and  even  in  regard  to  the  throne  it  was  long  before 
that  principle  became  established. 

Bashtina  rights  exacted  corresponding  duties  and 
obligations  toward  the  State  and  the  ruler.  These 
duties  were — First — Obligatory  military  service,  from 
which  exemption  could  be  allowed  by  the  ruler  under 
conditions  fixed  by  law  and  custom.  Second. — Pay- 
ment of  the  royal  or  imperial  tax  called  "Sotje." 
Article  42  says:  "The  bashtina  is  free  of  all  robot ' 
and  other  dues  except  the  sotje  tax  and  military  ser- 
vice." Articles  42  and  198  fixed  the  "sotje"  at  one 
"kabal"2  of  grain  or  one  perper  (Article  68)  in 
money,  levied  on  the  household  or  "hearth,"  and 
payable  partly  on  October  26,  St.  Demetrius'  Day, 
and  the  rest  at  Christmas.  Third. — Special  taxes  in 
the  form  of  gifts  and  contributions  for  building  and 

'"Robot"  was  a  contribution  of  manual  labor  on  public  works,  etc. 
A  similar  exaction  exists  to-day  in  nearly  all  countries  of  Europe  for  the 
up-keep  of  public  highways  or  dikes,  etc.  In  France  every  landowner  has 
to  furnish  either  manual  labor  or  "carting"  toward  the  maintenance  of 
the  roads,  to  be  furnished  in  labor  or  money. 

2  The  "kabal"  was  more  or  less  the  Roman  or  Byzantine  weight-and- 
surface-measure  unit  called  the  "modius."  As  surface  measure  it  was 
in  Servian,  the  "mat."  As  weight,  the  "kabal"  (about  two-thirds  of  a 
modern  bushel)  was  the  amount  of  grain  required  to  sow  a  surface  of  two 
hundred  square  "orgya,"  one  "orgya"  being  nine  and  a  half  spans  of 
the  hand. 


THE   NOBILITY  229 

other  royal  or  imperial  purposes — building  of  monas- 
teries, palaces,  etc. — also  registration  fees.  Article 
128  refers  to  these  contributions  and  fixes  the  duties 
and  registration  fees  payable  to  the  State  on  all 
bashtina  transactions.  The  fee  per  village  was  thirty 
perpers  (about  sixty  dollars)— for  one  horse,  one 
perper;  for  a  mare,  one-half  perper.  Article  134  per- 
mits the  "Djak"  or  Registration  clerk  to  levy  a  fee 
— for  his  clerical  services — of  six  perpers  per  village. 

Pronya. — (Second  form  of  the  nobleman's  landed- 
estate.)  The  expression  "Pronya"  {irpovoia)  is  said 
to  have  applied  in  Byzance  to  the  charge  and  ad- 
ministration of  a  district,  and  came  in  time  to  des- 
ignate a  special  form  of  landed  estate,  in  which  mean- 
ing in  the  thirteenth  century  it  was  adopted  by  the 
Serbs.  The  Servian  pronya  '  was  a  landed  estate  or 
certain  revenues  of  a  district  bestowed  during  life 
upon  military  or  administrative  dignitaries  of  the 
State  in  payment  for  services  past  or  present,  mili- 
tary or  civil. 

The  pronya  right  was  only  the  usufructus.  It 
excluded  the  rights  of  free  disposal  by  sale  or  gift. 
Article  59  says  in  substance  that  a  pronyar  can  only 
sell  or  buy  a  bashtina.  To  sell  or  buy  a  pronya  or 
dispose  of  it  in  any  way  was  forbidden.  Any  such 
dealings  were  declared  null  and  void. 

1  Analogous  with  the  Servian  pronya  was  the  Russian  "  Pomiestnishtvo," 
introduced  into  Russia  in  the  early  sixteenth  century,  and  out  of  which 
the  Empress  Catherine  in  the  eighteenth  century  created  a  free  landed 
nobility  by  abolishing  the  "  personal  State  servitude  "  of  the  "  Pomiestnik," 
and  thereby  inadvertently  created  also  legal  serfdom  in  Russia,  as  she 
neglected  to  free  at  the  same  time  the  tenants  ("Mushiks")  from  their 
obligatory  servitudes  toward  the  "Pomiestnik."  Alexander  IPs  libera- 
tion of  the  serfs  was  the  tardy  and  incomplete  reparation  for  that  act. 


230  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

Only  by  special  imperial  or  royal  deed  of  gift 
could  the  pronya  be  transformed  into  a  bashtina. 

On  the  death  of  the  pronyar  the  estate  returned 
to  the  Crown,  which  could  re-bestow  it  upon  the 
pronyar's  son  only  where  that  son  was  able  to  assume 
the  duties  and  obligations  forming  the  basis  of  his 
father's  tenure.  Or  the  Crown  could  bestow  the 
pronya  upon  some  other  candidate. 

The  pronya  was  always  the  benefice  of  an  office. 
The  ruler  could  dispossess  the  pronyar  for  default  in 
duty  or  non-fulfilment  of  obligations  or  abuse  of 
authority.  Article  142  declares  forfeit  of  pronya  and 
office  for  treason,  abuse  of  authority,  etc. 

Article  57  declares  the  pronya  forfeit  for  the 
abuse  of  the  law  of  hospitality  (Priselitza)  or 
for  oppressing  the  people  on  the  lands  of  the 
pronya. 

If  the  bashtina  or  pronya  were  a  border  district  it 
was  called  "  Krayina,"  '  and  the  holder  of  it "  Krayish- 
nik"  or  "Border-lord."  His  duty  was  to  watch 
over  the  security  of  the  borders  and  keep  the  gar- 
risons of  defence  in  good  condition. 

1  Gregoras,  the  Byzantine  chronicler,  who  went  to  Skoplyia  (Uskub)  with 
an  embassy  to  ask  the  Servian  King  Stephan  Detchanski's  aid  for  the 
Emperor  Andronikos  the  Elder,  writes:  "When  we  passed  the  Struma 
River  .  .  .  and  came  into  thick  woods,  we  were  suddenly  surrounded  by 
men  clad  in  black  woollen  garments,  who  darted  forth  from  behind  trees 
and  rocks  like  devils  out  of  the  earth.  They  wore  no  heavy  armour,  being 
armed  only  with  lances,  battle-axes,  and  bows  and  arrows.  They  could  not 
understand  our  (Greek)  tongue.  They  barred  the  way  of  our  embassy,  but 
accosted  us  good-naturedly.  There  was  nothing  of  the  bandit  in  their 
looks.  When  we  answered  their  greeting — as  some  of  us  knew  their  lan- 
guage— they  told  us  what  they  were  doing  in  such  an  abandoned  spot: 
that  they  were  guarding  the  border  from  any  persons  who  might  enter  to 
attack  and  plunder  the  villages  of  the  interior. "  These  men  were  the 
"  Krayishnitzi, "  armed  men  of  the  Border-lord,  on  duty. 


THE   CLERGY  AND  THE   CHURCH  231 

Article  49  says  that  "should  a  foreign  army  or 
troops  enter  the  State  and  plunder  and  retire  again 
unmolested,  the  Vlastelin  or  pronyar  who  is  the 
Border-lord  and  through  whose  territory  the  plunder- 
ing forces  passed,  shall  make  good  all  the  damage 
done  by  the  plunderers. 

Article  143  says  that  "should  robbers  [small  private 
bands  or  individuals]  cross  the  borders  into  the  ad- 
ministrative territory  of  a  Border-lord,  he  shall  repay 
the  depredations  sevenfold." 

7.    THE    CLERGY    AND    THE    CHURCH 

The  organisation  of  the  clergy  in  its  civil  and  social 
aspect  comprised  two  orders :  first,  the  Monastic,  in- 
cluding the  Patriarch,  Archbishops,  Bishops,  Archi- 
mandrites (Higher  Abbot)  Hegoumen  (Abbots), 
Monks,  and  Djakons  (postulants),  who  had  no 
property  rights  and  no  family  rights  (could  not 
be  married).  They  could  live  only  in  monas- 
teries. 

The  second  order  of  clergy — the  main  body  in  num- 
bers— was  formed  of  the  parish  incumbents.  They 
were  the  Proto-Popa  (or  Archpriest,  the  priest- 
intendant  of  a  number  of  parishes) ;  the  Popa  or 
parish  priest,  and  the  Beadle  (layman  in  Church  ser- 
vice). To  this  order  marriage  was  obligatory,  and 
its  members  enjoyed  full  property  rights,  and  in  their 
social  status,  whether  Vlastelin  or  Commoner — they 
were  under  the  ordinary  law,  and  retained  the  social 
status  and  political  rights  to  which  they  were  born  as 
Servian  subjects. 


232  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

This  order  is  therefore  to  be  considered  in  relation 
to  the  common  laws  of  the  realm. 

But  the  monastic  order  was  subject  to  special  laws 
fixing  its  special  privileges  and  duties  in  regard  both 
to  the  State  and  the  people.  This  order  headed  by 
the  higher  clergy,  Patriarch,  Archbishops,  Archiman- 
drite, Hegouman  (Abbot),  who  were  socially  part  of 
the  nobility  as  lords  spiritual,  and  the  lesser  mo- 
nastic Clergy  (commoners)—  i.  e.y  the  Monks  (Kalud- 
jers)  and  the  Djakons  (postulant  priests,  who  were 
the  aids  to  higher  clergy  in  sacerdotal  functions) — 
was,  as  regards  administration,  autonomous  within  the 
monastic  domain.  These  domains  were  called  "  Me- 
tokhia,"  and  belonged  to  the  monastery  and  not  to 
the  individuals  of  the  monastic  order.  The  monastic 
community  possessed  only  the  usus  and  fructus  of 
these  church  domains,  subject  to  the  fulfilment  of 
the  duties  and  obligations  (servitudes)  due  to  the 
State  and  public  from  monasteries.1 

Article  25  (Code  Doushan)  says:  "The  Emperor, 
the  Patriarch  and  the  Logothet  (chancellor  of  the 
realm)  shall  alone  have  supreme  supervision  over  the 
monasteries  .  .  ."  etc. 

The  members  of  the  monastic  order  were  obliged 
to  live  in  the  monastery  on  the  monastic  domain,  and 
in  absolute  equality  and  poverty. 

"No  monk  or  nun  shall  live  outside  of  a  monastery 
or  convent  .  .  ."  etc.      (Article  17,  Code  Doushan.) 

A  document  of  King  Miloutin  says:  "The  monk 
shall  possess  nothing  and  shall  not  have  in  his  cell 

1  There  were  exceedingly  few  convents  for  women  in  the  Serb-Orthodox 
Church  at  any  time,  and  in  modern  times  none  whatever. 


THE   CLERGY  AND   THE   CHURCH  233 

even  a  needle  and  thread  without  having  received  it 
'in  benediction'  from  the  'Old  one"' — i.  e.,  the  abbot 
in  charge  gives  it  to  him  according  to  his  need  from 
the  community  stores. 

There  are  evidences,  however,  that  higher  monastic 
dignitaries,  such  as  Archbishops  and  Bishops,  some- 
times received  estates.  There  are  no  evidences  to 
show  that  estates  so  received  conveyed  anything  more 
than  the  usufructus  during  a  lifetime.  In  some  cases 
these  gift  estates,  stipulating  generally  the  applica- 
tion of  revenues  to  certain  purposes,  remained,  after 
the  death  of  the  beneficiary,  as  endowment  upon  the 
ecclesiastical  office. 

The  duration  of  the  possession  of  domain  by  the 
church  was  unlimited  and  absolute.  The  right  to 
sell  or  dispose  in  any  way  of  church  property,  espe- 
cially  real  estate,  was  narrowly  restricted,  and  the 
tendency  was  to  prevent  entirely  such  transactions, 
affecting  even  the  right  to  let  land  or  to  rent  other 

©  © 

land. 

The  administrative  head  of  the  monastery  was  the 
Hegouman  (Abbot),  elected  by  all  the  monks  of  the 
monastery  in  assembly  as  sole  nominators. 

On  the  community  principle,  the  right  to  deal 
with  the  monastic  property — having  regard  especially 
to  "mobilier,"  fruit  of  harvest,  live  stock,  etc.,  re- 
sided in  the  community  alone,  the  Hegouman  in  all 
these  transactions  being  obliged  to  get  the  direct  or 

©  ©  o 

indirect  advice  or  authority  of  the  others. 

Obligations  and  Duties. — The  monastic  incomes 
had  to  be  devoted  to  the  nourishment  and  clothing  of 
the  monks,  the  feeding  and  clothing  of  poor  and  dis- 


234  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

abled  persons — hospital  work  and  poor  relief  being 
the  chief  duties  of  the  monasteries — and  the  giving 
of  food  and  lodging  to  travellers  and  wayfarers  dur- 
ing a  period  fixed  by  law  (generally  some  three  days). 
There  were  also  educational  duties. 

Article  28  (Code  Doushan)  says:  "In  all  church 
monasteries  the  poor  and  disabled  shall  be  fed  as 
prescribed  by  the  law.  Should  any  one  fail  in  this 
duty,  be  he  Archbishop,  Bishop,  or  Hegouman,  he 
shall  be  dismissed  from  his  (ecclesiastical)  office." 

A  document  of  Chelnik  Radich  specifies  that  the 
monastery  shall  distribute  at  least  twelve  portions  of 
food  at  the  church  doors  every  day. 

The  Archangel  document  of  Emperor  Stephan 
Doushan  specifies  the  hospital  duties,  decreeing: 
"Each  monastery  shall  have  a  hospital  with  at  least 
twelve  beds,  and  whoever  is  ill  shall  be  taken  into  the 
hospital,  except  the  blind  and  the  lame" — for  whom 
provision  was  made  elsewhere  as  to  food  and  cloth- 
ing— Article  28. 

Chelnik  Radich's  document  says:  "The  food  for 
the  ill  in  the  hospital  shall  be  furnished  by  the  kitchens 
of  the  monastery." 

Article  175  (Code  Doushan)  fixing  conditions  of 
hospitality  to  travellers,  says:  "No  woman  can  be 
received  at  a  monastery  except  the  Queen  or  the 
Empress." 

The  document  of  Chelnik  Radich,  specifies  the 
duties  of  monasteries  in  regard  to  hospitality  to 
travellers. 

The  privileges  which  the  monastic  order  enjoyed 
in  view  of  all  these  duties  and  obligations  were  also 


THE   CLERGY  AND  THE   CHURCH  235 

fixed  by  public  law.  The  monastic  domains  were 
exempt  from  all  "small  or  great"  "robot"  (corvee  or 
personal  labour)  toward  the  State  or  the  protector 
of  the  church  (domain).  The  tenants  on  the  church 
lands  were  free  from  military  duties  and  many  of  the 
"Metokhias"  (church  domains)  were  by  special 
royal  or  imperial  grant  freed  from  the  "sotje"  tax. 

In  later  years  in  the  fifteenth  century,  under  press- 
ure of  the  Turkish  invasion,  many  of  the  exemp- 
tions referring  to  military  service,  payment  of  taxes, 
and  certain  "robots"  were  revoked  as  the  nation 
then  called  on  every  resource  of  defence. 

The  general  conditions  attending  the  church  hold- 
ing varied  somewhat  according  to  the  origin  of  the 
domainal  foundations,  and  were  influenced  by  the 
nature  of  the  property  before  it  became  church  land, 
causing  three  classifications. 

There  was,  first,  the  great  or  State  or  Patriarchal 
"Church"  (estates),  comprising  all  monastic  and 
church  lands  attached  to  the  Sees  of  the  Patriarchs, 
Archbishops,  and  Bishops.  The  second  class  was  the 
Royal  or  Imperial  "Church,"  including  monasteries 
and  churches  founded  by  the  Rulers  and  forming  the 
greatest  number.  This  class  came  entirely  under  the 
ordinance  of  public  law  for  monastic  and  church 
property.  The  third  kind  was  the  "Bashtina 
Church,"  depending  on  the  special  charter  given  to 
the  church  by  the  Lord  of  the  bashtina  who  founded 
it,  and  remaining  an  integral  part  of  that  bashtina. 
These  charters  were  framed  within  the  limits  of  the 
public  law,  which  in  the  main  governed  all  classes  of 
church  holdings. 


236  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

All  church  or  monastic  foundations  or  any 
other  public  utility — drinking-fountains,  etc. — were 
and  are  still  called  in  Servian  "Zaduzhbina"  (in 
duty's  weal). 

Although  it  was  customary,  especially  with  the 
Nemanya  Rulers  and  the  great  nobles  of  that  time, 
to  found  monasteries  and  churches  (Zaduzhbinas), 
those  church  foundations  could  never  attain  the  same 
extent  of  power  in  the  State  as  that  possessed  by 
those  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  Western 
Europe,  the  reason  being  that  the  Serb  Churches 
were,  without  exception,  founded  for  direct  purposes 
of  public  utility,  and  the  obligations  and  conditions 
contained  in  the  charter  formed  part  of  the  public 
law,  which  gave  to  the  people  the  right  to  exact  ful- 
filment of  those  duties.1 

8.    SEBAR  OR  COMMONER 

Taken  in  a  general  sense,  all  of  the  non-noble 
inhabitants  came  under  the  broad  classification  of 
"Sebar,  plural  Sebri,  or  as  a  class  Sebrdyia."  In 
the  revised  edition  of  the  Code  Doushan,  1346, 
Article  152,  the  population  is  considered  under  three 
classifications:  Vlastela,  Sredni  Lyudi  (middle  folks), 
and  Sebrdyia.  What  Sredni  Lyudi  meant  cannot  be 
determined  by  the  documents  or  other  articles  of  the 
code,  as  not  one  of  them  mentions  it  again.  It  has 
been  thought  that  the  term  may  indicate  an  attempt 
to  create,  out  of  the  lower  part  of  the  lesser  nobility 

1  Even  to-day  the  Servian  wayfarer  finds  hospitality  at  a  monastery  as 
a  matter  of  ancient  custom  and  law. 


SEBAR   OR   COMMONER  237 

and  that  part  of  the  commoners  most  conspicuous 
through  distinguished  attainment  or  superior  fortune, 
a  gentry  or  a  middle  class.  If  such  were  the  case  the 
attempt  evidently  came  to  naught. 

The  Sebri  as  a  class,  comprising  the  whole  non- 
noble  population,  had  in  the  fourteenth  century  no 
participation  in  State  affairs,  and  did  not  sit  in  the 
great  national  assembly  (Sabor) ;  either  they  had 
been  excluded  from  the  Great  Sabor  or  they  had  not 
yet  attained  that  measure  of  their  national  rights. 
Article  69  says  distinctly  that  the  Sebri  are  forbidden 
to  sit  in  the  Sabor. 

Two  Croatian  documents  of  1527  complain  of  a 
certain  great  lord  who  attempts  to  force  poor  no- 
blemen to  become  Sebars,  that  is,  to  deprive  them 
of  their  national  political  rights.  (Koukoulyevitch, 
"Acta  Croat,"  pp.  225,  231.) 

The  Sebar,  however,  had  voice  in  the  local 
administration  through  representation  in  the  as- 
semblies of  the  Zhupa  and  of  his  own  Grad 
or  Selo. 

The  Sebar  in  his  personal  and  individual  status 
was  recognised  and  protected  from  violence  and  op- 
pression, or  the  suppression  of  his  personal  rights, 
by  the  powerful  classes  (nobility)  possessing  superi- 
or political  privileges. 

The  Sebar  and  nobleman  alike,  in  all  litigations 
civil  or  criminal,  could  be  judged  only  by  the  royal 
or  imperial  courts  of  justice. 

In  regard  to  crimes  against  public  order  directly 
specified,  all  men,  whether  nobleman  or  Sebar  or 
others,  were  equal  before  the  law,  and  the  punishment 


238  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

meted  out  was  the  same  to  all  alike,  These  crimes 
were  specified  in  Articles  21,  93,  95,  96,  107,  118,  130, 
140,  144,  etc.  For  instance,  Article  21  says:  "Who- 
ever sells  a  Christian  (man,  woman,  or  child),  his 
hand  shall  be  cut  off  and  his  nose  slit."  Article  95 
says:  "Whoever  kills  a  bishop  or  priest  or  monk  shall 
be  hanged,  and  whoever  insults  such  a  one  shall  pay 
one  hundred  perpers."  Article  96  says:  "Whoever 
is  a  parricide,  a  matricide,  a  fratricide,  or  an  infan- 
ticide shall  be  burned  at  the  stake."  Article  130 
says:  "Whoever  destroys  a  church  in  war  or  in  peace 
time  shall  be  hanged." 

In  regard  to  a  number  of  other  crimes  considered 
to  be  less  against  the  general  public  order,  and  bear- 
ing more  particularly  on  the  individual,  the  kind  and 
degree  of  punishment  varied  according  to  the  social 
status  of  the  culprit  and  the  injured  party.  Article 
94  refers  to  manslaughter  committed  in  a  Zhupa  or 
a  Grad  by  a  nobleman  against  a  Sebar,  fixing  the 
penalty  at  the  payment  of  a  thousand  perpers.  If 
the  same  crime  were  committed  by  a  Sebar  against  a 
nobleman,  the  Sebar  paid  three  hundred  perpers  and 
had  one  hand  chopped  off.  Article  53  decrees  that 
should  a  nobleman  violate  a  gentlewoman  or  any 
other,  both  of  his  hands  should  be  chopped  off  and 
his  nose  slit.  If  a  Sebar  should  violate  a  noblewoman 
he  was  to  be  hanged.  If  he  violate  one  of  his  own 
class  or  any  other,  not  a  gentlewoman,  his  hands 
were  to  be  chopped  off  and  his  nose  slit.  Article  155 
provides  that  should  a  Vlastelin  insult  a  Sebar  he 
pay  one  hundred  perpers;  should  a  Sebar  insult  a 
Vlastelin  he  pay  one  hundred  perpers   and   receive 


SEBAR   OR   COMMONER  239 

several  lashes.  Article  85  declares  if  any  one  utters 
in  public  a  "baboonska  retch"  (babboon  word),  i.  e., 
words  of  immoral,  shameless,  or  godless  teaching,  if 
the  offender  be  a  vlastelin  he  shall  pay  one  hundred 
perpers  fine ;  and  if  a  Sebar  he  is  to  pay  twelve  per- 
pers  and  receive  the  lash. 

The  Sebars  were  the  inhabitants  of  either  a  grad 
(town)  or  of  a  selo  (rural  community). 

Gradjani. — The  Sebar  inhabitants  of  towns  were 
called  Gradjani,  but  did  not  form  any  closed 
or  separate  class  or  cast.  They  had  special 
duties  toward  their  Grad  (see  page  206,  under 
Grad).  The  Gradjani  in  their  property  rights 
differed  in  no  way  from  the  Sebars  of  the  rural 
communities. 

The  Gradjani  (townsmen)  are  spoken  of  as 
Sebars,  in  a  document  of  King  Miloutin  to  the 
Monastery  of  Hilendar,  1309  (Spomenik,  III,  p.  14), 
also  in  a  patent  given  by  the  Nun  Eugenia  (the 
Tsaritza  Militza,  widow  of  Tsar  Lazar  Hrebe- 
lianovich)  and  her  two  sons,  Prince  Stephan  and 
Vouk  Lazarovich-Hrebelianovich,  1395,  to  the  Rus- 
sian Monastery  of  Saint  Panteleimon.  (Glasnik, 
XXIV.) 

Zemlyani. — No  difference  at  all  existed  in  the 
social  status  between  the  townsmen  and  the  rural 
inhabitants.  As  the  townsmen  were  called  Gradjani, 
so  the  countrymen  were  called  "Zhuplyani" — men 
of  the  Zhupa— or  "Zemlyani"— men  of  the  soil. 
Called  Zemlyani  in  a  document  of  King  Stephan 
the  "first-crowned"  and  in  Article  174  of  the  Code 
Doushan,   "Lyudi   Zemalski    or   Lyudi   Zemlyani." 


240  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

Among  the  Zemlyani  the  agriculturalists  were  called 
"Serbs"  and  the  stock-breeders  were  termed  in  gen- 
eral "Flacks."1 

The  Sebar's  property  was  safeguarded  to  him  by 
the  same  laws  which  protects!  the  property  of  the 
nobility.  The  Sebar  possessed  bashtina  bearing  in 
principle  the  same  privileges  and  character  as  the 
bashtina  of  the  nobles,  with  the  sole  difference  thai 
the  Sebar's  bashtina  was  often  in  sonic  degree  de- 
pendent upon  the  bashtina  of  the  Dobleman.  li"  the 
Sebar  added  to  his  bashtina  by  lands,  mills,  or  other 
property  which  he  bought,  that  properly  was  called 
"Kouplyanitza1'  (bought). 

Article  45  says,  if  a  Vlastelin  or  other  man  (i.  e. 
Sebar)  possesses  a  bashtina  church!  monastery  I ,  neither 
the  Emperor  nor  the  Patriarch  nor  any  other  of  the 
clergy  (bishop  is  meant)  shall  have  the  righi  to 
bring  it  under  the  Great  Church.  But  the  Bash- 
tinik  (Vlastelin  or  Sebar  owning  the  church)  has  the 
right  to  put  a  monk  there. 

The  Archangel  document  says:  "...  And  My 
Imperial  Majesty  gave  to  the  Archangel  Monastery 
.  .  .  Orland  Micovitch,  with  his  bashtina,  his  vine- 
yards, mills,  and  tenants,  and  all  he  had  in  the  Grad 
Prisren,  with  his  bashtina-village  of  Seltchani  .  .  ." 
(i.  e.y  the  taxes,  dues,  and  servitudes  from  his 
properties) . 

1  This  term  arose  from  the  fact  that  in  ancient  times  when  the  Serbs 
came  into  the  Balkan  lands  in  the  migrations  they  found  certain  groups 
of  cattle-breeders  who  were  called  Vlachs.  Vlach  is  thought  to  be  a  form 
of  the  name  "Welsh."  In  time,  when  these  Vlachs  had  become  entirely 
assimilated  with  the  Serbs,  the  Serb  stock-raisers  still  continued  to  be 
called  generically  Vlachs. 


SEBAR   OR   COMMONER  241 

A  deed  of  exchange  between  the  Emperor  Doushan 
and  a  Sebar  named  Mladen  Vladoyevitch,  states: 
".  .  .  The  Emperor  took  with  their  free  will  and 
consent,  and  not  by  force,  from  Mladen  Vladoye- 
vitch, his  mother  and  his  relatives,  their  Church  of 
Saint  Saviour  at  Prisren,  with  all  belonging  to  it,  vil- 
lages, tenants,  acres,  vineyards,  and  'rights'  which 
they  had  in  the  Grad  of  Prisren  or  in  the  Zhupa — or 
elsewhere,  and  gave  to  them  in  exchange,  in  the  Grad 
of  Ochrida  church  for  church,  village  for  village,  vine- 
yard for  vineyard,  mill  for  mill,  and  all  that  the  St. 
Andrea  Church  had  prior  to  then;    .    .    .   all  that  shall 

be  the  bashtina  of  Mladen  and  his  mother.  ..." 
(Glasnik,  XV,  p.  270. 

The  situation  of  the  Sebars,  Gradjani  (towns- 
men or  Zemlyani  (rural  Sebars)  varied  according  to 
the  privileges  of  their  landed  property,  or  the  duties 
which  the  land  possessed  by  them  owed  to  its  su- 
perior lord,  and  which,  therefore,  were  incumbent  on 
the  tenant  or  inferior  landlord. 

The  two  main  orders  of  Sebars  were  the  "Slobodni 
Lyudi"  "independent  men.  men  possessing  bash- 
tina unencumbered  by  servitudes  except  toward  the 
State"'  including  rich  Sebars  with  tenants,  and  those 
who  had  no  tenants] :  and  the  order  of  Sebars  called 
"Merops"  or  "Kmets"  in  the  Code  Doushan,  who 
themselves  were  merely  tenant-,  or  whose  bashtinas 
bore,  in  addition  to  the  servitudes  toward  the  State, 
other  servitudes  toward  a  domain. 


242  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 


"Slobodnyi  Lyudi" 

The  "Slobodnyi  Lyudi"  ("independent  people") 
formed  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  population. 
They  were  all  commoners  or  Sebars,  who  possessed 
free  bashtinas,  bearing  the  same  privileges  and 
duties  as  those  of  the  nobles — that  is,  paying  the 
"sotje-tax"  and  military  service,  and  all  other  obli- 
gations exacted  by  the  State  from  the  bashtina  of  the 
Vlastela.  It  has  been  surmised  that  "Sredni  Lyudi" 
(middle  folks)  was  another  term  for  "Slobodni 
Lyudi,"  but  there  is  no  documentary  indication  to 
that  effect. 

These  rights  were  extended  also  to  the  Parish 
Priest,  and  to  a  widow  with  children. 

The  Parish  Priest. — The  parish  priest  enjoyed  the 
privileges  of  the  Slobodni  Lyudi. 

Article  11  of  the  Code  Doushan  ordains  that  the 
bishops  shall  appoint  a  priest,  called  Popa,  to  every 
parish,  Grad,  or  rural  community.  There  was  usually 
one  priest  to  every  twenty  or  thirty  "  Koutchas." 
The  popa  so  appointed  could  not  desert  his  parish. 
Unlike  the  monks  living  in  the  monasteries,  bound  to 
absolute  poverty,  the  parish  priest,  whose  duties  lay 
among  the  people,  had  family  rights  and  duties,  and 
the  use  of  "three  pieces  of  land"  fixed  by  law,  called 
"Zhdrebyie,"  which  was  the  source  of  his  income. 
This  land  was  free  of  all  dues  and  robot-duty  except 
to  the  State.  Whatever  extension  of  land  the  popa 
might  add  to  his  three  pieces  came  under  the  ordinary 
law  of  tenant's  land  and  could  claim  no  exemption. 


SEBAR   OR   COMMONER  243 

If  a  popa  brought  with  him  to  the  priesthood 
inherited  land  property  (bashtina)  it  also  enjoyed 
the  same  immunity  as  did  the  usual  church  land, 
but  he  had  no  right  to  ask  for  or  receive  the  "three 
pieces  of  land"  allotted  to  the  popa  having  no 
bashtina. 

The  son  of  a  priest  having  only  his  "Zhdrebyie" 
could  inherit  from  his  father  if  he  "learned  the 
Book"  and  followed  his  father  as  priest;  other- 
wise he  could  not  inherit  the  "Zhdrebyie,"  but 
became  a  "Merop,"  that  is,  an  ordinary  member 
of  the  rural  community  with  the  usual  rights  and 
obligations. 

Article  31  says:  "A  priest  who  is  a  bashtinik  shall 
keep  his  bashtina  and  it  shall  be  free.  The  priest 
who  has  no  bashtina  shall  receive  three  pieces 
of  arable  land  .  .  .  and  it  shall  be  free.  ...  If 
that  priest  takes  more  land  he  shall  perform  robot- 
work  due  from  the  extra  land  taken  as  fixed  by 
law.  .  .  ." 

Article  65  provides  that  "the  priest  who  has  not 
his  own  'stas'  [Greek  for  bashtina]  shall  receive 
three  pieces  of  arable  land  and  shall  not  be  able  to 
leave  the  parish,  .  .  .  but  if  the  over-lord  of  the 
parish  refuses  to  give  him  the  three  pieces  of  land 
he  shall  make  complaint  to  his  bishop,  who  shall 
bring  the  matter  before  the  Vlastelin  or  over-lord, 
asking  him  to  give  the  land  as  the  law  requires.  If 
the  Vlastelin  or  over-lord  refuse,  the  priest  is  free 
to  leave  the  parish.  If  the  priest  owns  a  bashtina 
the  over-lord  cannot  send  him  away  from  that 
parish." 


244  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

King  Stephan  Detchanski,  in  the  Detchani  docu- 
ment, says:  "If  the  son  of  a  priest  'learns  the  Book' 
[becomes  a  priest]  he  may  remain  with  his  lather  on 
the  Zhdrebyie  [i.e.,  he  may  inherit  it].  If  he  does 
not  'learn  the  Book'  he  shall  become  a  Merop.  ..." 

A  popa  was  often  attached  to  a  monastery—  Living 
outside  of  its  precincts — to  look  after  its  temporal 
business  affairs,  a  kind  of  intendant. 

The  parish  priests  were  exempt  from  certain  taxes 
paid  by  laymen.  Article  37  says  that  the  parish 
priests  "are  exempt  from  church  taxes,  which  they 
shall  collect  from  other  bashtiniks"  —[to  hand  it  over 
to  the  Bishops].  A  document  of  King  Stephan,  "The 
First  Crowned,"  to  the  Monastery  of  Zhitcha,  1222, 
says:  "...  The  taxes  that  come  in  from  the  Popas 
[priests],  the  Vlacs,  or  the  Serbi,  called  the  'ecelesia- 
lical  Bir,'  shall  be  given  to  this  monastery.  .  .  ." 

A  document  of  King  Stephan  Detchanski  says: 
"...  The  Vrhovina  [tax]  which  prior  to  now  the 
popas  have  paid  to  the  Bishop  of  Hvostno,  they  shall 
hereafter  pay  to  the  monastery  of  Detchani,  .  .  . 
because  my  Royal  Majesty  has  bought  this  Vrhovina 
from  the  Bishop  of  Hvostno  .  .  .  for  four  hundred 
sheep  and  their  lambs,  and  five  hundred  perpers.  .  .  . 
Therefore  the  popas  and  the  other  people  [on  those 
lands]  shall  not  be  any  longer  within  the  authority 
of  the  Bishop  or  Archbishop,  and  shall  not  pay  them 
the  Vrhovina  or  other  dues  as  they  have  heretofore 
done.  .  .  ." 

The  Vrhovina  and  Bir  were  different  names  for  the 
same  tax,  which  was  two  dinars  for  each  "bed"  or 
married  couple. 


SEBAR   OR   COMMONER  245 

The  Widow,  "the  poor  Spinner.'''' — Article  64  says: 
"The  poor  Spinner  [meaning  a  widow  with  children] 
shall  be  exempt  from  robot-work  and  all  other  taxes 
and  dues  from  which  the  priest  is  exempt." 

The  Mir  ops  or  Kmcts 

The  great  mass  of  the  Servian  population  was 
formed  of  those  holding  land  either  as  tenants  of  a 
domain  or  whose  bashtina  was  encumbered  with 
servitude  toward  a  domain.  They  gave  to  the 
domain  a  certain  measure  of  manual  labour  fixed  by 
law.  That  labour  was  used  by  the  over-lord  to 
work  his  private  estate. 

They  went  for  justice  before  the  royal  or  the  im- 
perial courts  of  justice  only,  the  over-lord  having  no 
jurisdiction  or  any  other  rights  whatever  over  them. 

They  included:  (1)  The  "maistors,"  that  is,  the 
handicraftsmen,  master  masons,  master  smith- 
wrights,  wheel-wrights,  saddlers,  armourers,  etc. 
I  Sokalniks  Sheriff's  men,  court  ushers,  messen- 
gers, etc.,  and  probably  men  who  gave  armed  ser- 
vice  to  the  over-lord  as  his  retainers.  (3)  The 
simple  agriculturalist,  called  Meropah  or  Merop  in 
the  (Ode  Doushan.  These  same  people  were  called 
in  south-east  Servia,  "Parikes"  (a  term  of  Byzan- 
tine origin);  in  northern  or  north-western  or  western 
Servia,  Kmet. 

A  document  of  Ivan  Tsrnoyevich,  Prince  of 
Zeta  (Montenegro)  in  1485,  mentions  an  exchange 
between  him  and  a  nobleman  named  Ratko  Osto- 
yich   ''with    his    brothers,   cousins,  nephews."      "In 


246  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

exchange  I  gave  to  them,  with  their  consent,  field  for 
field,  .  .  .  grapevine  for  grapevine,  .  .  .  tree  for  tree, 
as  bashtina  for  all  time,  .  .  .  and  all  that  was  the 
estate  of  the  House  Ostoyich  shall  be  monastic 
'Stoupovi'  [estate],  all  that  was  Kmetshtina  [land 
held  by  the  Kmets  of  the  domain  of  the  Ostoyich] 
shall  be  the  Kmetshtina  of  the  Church  and  the 
Kmets  on  it  shall  perform  robot-work  for  the  Church 
estate."    ("Monumenta  Serbica.") 

The  Kmetshtina  or  land  held  by  the  merops,  and 
which  was  not  merop-bashtina,  was  divided  among 
them  in  equal  parts.     See  Article  67. 

Legal  Characteristics  of  the  Merop  Tenure. — Legal 
measures  were  enacted  to  prevent  those  land  con- 
tracts, which  were  for  life,  from  being  broken,  either 
by  the  merop  abandoning  his  land  to  pass  to  some 
other  domain,  or  by  the  over-lord  enticing  tenants 
from  another  domain  to  his  own,  or  by  an  over- 
lord driving  away  merops  in  order  to  seize  their 
land.  Article  22  of  the  Code  Doushan  says:  " Merops 
who  have  abandoned  their  lands  to  go  and  settle  on 
church  lands  shall  return  to  their  original  domain." 
Article  201:  "If  a  merop  abandons  his  tenure,  the 
over-lord  of  his  domain,  upon  finding  him,  can  have 
him  punished  and  exact  a  bond  for  good  behaviour, 
but  he  cannot  seize  any  of  that  merop's  property." 

Article  32  says:  "If  administrators  of  church  vil- 
lages and  lands  drive  away  tenants  of  those  lands, 
merops  or  vlachs,  .  .  .  they  [the  administrators]  shall 
be  bound  and  imprisoned,  lose  the  lands  and  people 
they  had  in  administration,  and  shall  remain  in 
prison  until  they  shall  have  brought  back  all  those 


SEBAR   OR   COMMONER  247 

whom  they  drove  away."  Article  93  says:  "Who- 
ever entices  or  takes  away  a  tenant  from  another  do- 
main shall  replace  him  sevenfold."  In  the  same 
sense  are  the  Articles  115,  140,  141,  and  164. 

In  spite  of  these  restrictions  aimed  at  preventing 
violation  of  tenure  by  either  party,  the  full  liberty  of 
action  of  the  tenant  otherwise  was  protected.  Article 
121  says :  "  No  Vlastelin,  greater  or  lesser,  nor  any  one 
else,  shall  prevent  his  tenants  or  any  other  person, 
merchant  or  other,  from  attending  the  market-places. 
All  persons  shall  be  free  to  come  and  go  as  they  will." 
Article  122  says  that  whoever  violates  this  law  shall 
pay  a  fine  of  three  hundred  perpers  or  ten  horses. 

A  document  of  King  Stephan  Doushan  to  the  Re- 
public of  Ragusa  says:  "If  any  person  interfere 
[harmfully]  with  the  business  dealings  of  a  Ragusan 
and  a  zemlyanin  who  is  selling  grain  or  other  prod- 
ucts to  the  Ragusan,  he  will  incur  My  anger  and 
pay  a  fine  of  five  hundred  perpers." 

The  "Saint  Stephan"  document  of  King  Miloutin 
says:  "No  abbot  shall  force  a  tenant  on  church  lands 
to  work  for  any  other  persons,  but  every  tenant  of 
church  lands  is  free  to  perform  whatever  work  he  will 
for  others,  but  only  in  addition  to  the  obligatory  work 
on  his  own  land  to  which  he  shall  return." 

A  document  of  1391  between  Ragusa  and  the 
brothers  Sankovich  (Zhupan  Belyiak  and  Voyvoda 
Radich)  is  a  mutual  agreement  stipulating  that  their 
people  should  be  free  to  interchange  allegiances  and 
freely  migrate  from  one  territory  to  the  other.1 

1 A  privilege  almost  unknown  elsewhere  in  Europe  up  to  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century. 


248  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

Foreign  emigrants  were  accepted  as  tenants,  unless 
excluded  by  treaties  with  foreign  States.  (Articles 
117,  etc.) 

The  guarantees  of  personal  liberty,  protection  of 
'life  and  property,  the  safeguard  of  all  individual 
rights,  as  well  as  the  fixing  of  responsibility,  secured 
by  the  organisation  and  efficient  administration  of  jus- 
tice and  public  order  in  Servia,  created  conditions  of 
great  prosperity  and  content  among  all  classes  of  the 
population.  To  such  an  extent  was  this  true  that 
there  occurred  important  emigrations  into  Servia 
from  neighbouring  countries. 

The  biographer  of  the  Emperor  Doushan,  Gregori- 
ous  Zamblack,  says:  "In  Servia  there  was  so  great 
a  prosperity  that  many  people  from  afar  left  volun- 
tarily their  native  lands  and  settled  in  Servia."  (See 
Glasnik,  XI,  p.  67.) 

This  historian's  statement  is  confirmed  by  other 
documentary  evidence,  first  among  which  are  the 
land  grants  to  emigrants  recording  their  names  and 
their  native  countries.  These  show  emigrants  from 
Italy,  Germany,  the  hereditary  Austrian  lands, 
Hungary,  Transylvania,  Byzance,  and  Asia  Minor. 

Bashtina  Rights  of  Merops. — The  merops  or 
kmets  have  the  same  right  as  other  Sebars  (com- 
moners) or  a  nobleman  to  possess  bashtina  (freehold 
property  inheritable) ,  except  that  the  merop  or  kmet 
bashtina  bears  a  servitude  toward  the  domain  and 
its  over-lord,  which  was  the  obligation  to  furnish 
(for  the  whole  bashtina,  however  large  the  family 
might  be)  one  man's  work  for  a  certain  number  of 
days  fixed  by  law  per  year. 


SEBAR   OR   COMMONER  249 

The  merop  or  kmet  had  full  right  to  dispose  of 
his  bashtina.  Article  174  says:  "The  Zemlyani-Mer- 
ops  who  possess  their  own  bashtina  land,  vineyards, 
and  'Kouplenitze'  ['bought  in  addition']  shall  be  free 
to  bestow  that  property  in  dowry,  to  place  it  under 
monastic  domain,  or  to  sell  it,  on  condition  that  there 
shall  be  always  a  work-hand  to  perform  the  robot- 
work  for  the  over-lord."  A  document  of  the  Em- 
peror Doushan  to  the  Archbishop  Jacob  of  Seres  says : 
"The  pariks  shall  not  pay  tithes  on  behalf  of  their 
bashtinas,1  but  if  they  work  church  land  in  addition 
they  must  pay  tithes  of  one-tenth  to  the  church  on 
the  produce  of  those  lands."  (GlamiJc,  XXIV.)  A 
document  of  King  Stephan  Detchanski  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Prisren  refers  to  "Saint  Simeon's  Church 
domain  with  all  its  people  and  their  vineyards,  mills, 
'na-mestyias' [farms], bashtinas, and  kouplenitze.  .  .  ." 
(Glasnik,  XIX.) 

The  laws  of  inheritance  in  regard  to  the  bashtinas 
of  the  zemlyani  resembled  those  concerning  the  bash- 
tinas of  the  nobles.  Males  only  inherited,  or,  in  de- 
fault of  male  heirs,  the  women  inherited  only  the 
Selishtye  (farm  building),  the  garden,  and  the  best 
piece  of  land.  The  Saint  Stephan  document,  1313,  by 
King  Miloutin,  says:  "The  poor  Spinner  [the  widow] 
who  has  a  minor  son  shall  remain  in  possession  of 
the  whole  bashtina  until  he  grows  up,  but  if  she  has 
no  son  she  shall  keep  only  the  buildings,  the  garden, 
and  the  best  piece  of  land." 

1  Under  Byzance  the  inhabitants  of  Seres  paid  tithes  on  their  property 
to  the  over-lord.  This  document  shows  that  on  Seres  becoming  Servian 
these  tithes  were  abolished. 


250  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

The  father  could  bestow  his  bashtina  or  part  of  it 
upon  his  daughter  either  as  dowry  or  gift,  or  he  could 
give  it  to  others  during  his  life;  but  dying  intestate, 
it  followed  these  regular  laws  of  inheritance. 

In  case  the  "  zemlyani-merop  "  had  no  bashtina,  or 
their  holding  was  too  small,  it  was  customary  for  the 
Domain  to  allot  to  them  whatever  lands  they  needed 
as  bashtina.  This  was  a  policy  intended  to  keep  the 
tenant  on  the  territory.  The  Archangel  document 
says:  "...  My  Imperial  Majesty  settled  the  master 
masons,  .  .  .  with  all  their  brothers  and  children,  .  .  . 
and  gave  them  the  lands  in  the  village  Youtoglavi  .  .  . 
arable  land,  meadows,  mills,  vineyards,  .  .  .  and  all 
of  this  shall  be  the  bashtina  belonging  to  them 
and  their  children.  ..."  (Glas?iik,  XV.)  The  same 
Archangel  document  continues:  "And  the  Hegoumen 
[Abbot]  of  the  Archangel  Monastery  told  to  my  Im- 
perial Majesty  .  .  .  that  it  [the  Monastery]  possesses 
in  the  village  of  Senyani  a  large  vineyard,  but  not 
enough  people  to  cultivate  it  by  robot- work.  .  .  . 
He  also  said  that  those  people  possess  very  little  land 
of  their  own.  .  .  .  Therefore  My  Imperial  Majesty 
ordered  that  those  people  shall  divide  among  them- 
selves all  the  land  which  the  Church  holds  in  those 
villages  and  they  shall  own  it  as  bashtina." 

Zemlyani  could  also  acquire  bashtina  in  other 
ways,  such  as  by  the  clearing  of  forests  which  gave 
title  to  the  land.  A  document  of  King  Miloutin  to 
the  Hilendar  Monastery,  1318,  says:  "Where  the 
folk  of  the  Archbishop  shall  clear  land  within  this 
forest  and  make  of  it  fields  or  meadows  it  shall  be 
theirs  in  bashtina."     These  rights  were  abused,  and 


SEBAR   OR   COMMONER  251 

so  there  was  brought  into  usage  a  principle  taken 
from  the  Justinian  Code,  that  a  man  must  get 
permission  from  the  owner  of  the  forest  to  clear  the 
forest  land,  and  that  those  lands  could  only  be  held 
by  him  for  three  years — after  which  they  reverted  to 
the  owner. 

Article  123  says:  "In  all  places  where  the  Saxons  ' 
have  cleared  land  prior  to  this  Sabor  [Legislative 
Assembly,  1349],  they  shall  retain  those  lands  in  pos- 
session. However,  if  they  have  taken  land  without 
the  right  to  do  so  from  a  noble  or  any  one  else,  he 
shall  bring  suit  against  them  according  to  the  laws 
of  the  Holy  King  Miloutin,  but  henceforth  the  Saxons 
shall  no  more  cut  down  woods.  If  they  clear  they 
shall  not  plant  the  soil  nor  settle  on  it,  but  leave  it 
uncultivated  so  that  the  forest  can  grow  anew.  No 
one  shall  forbid  the  Saxon  to  cut  wood,  but  he  shall 
cut  only  what  is  necessary  for  the  mine  or  the  market." 

Obligations  of  the  Zemlyanin- Merop  Toward  the 
Domain. — Every  merop  had  certain  duties  to  per- 
form toward  the  domain  from  which  were  exempt 
the  Priest  and  the  "poor  Spinner,"  meaning  a  widow 
with  children. 

In  regard  to  the  rest  of  the  zemlyani  the  reciprocal 
rights  and  duties  between  the  over-lord  and  them- 
selves were  clearly  defined  by  law.  Article  68  de- 
fines exactly  the  dues,  robot-dues,  and  duties  of  the 
merop  (zemlyanin)  toward  the  over-lord,  conclud- 
ing  with   the   words:    "Nothing  shall  be  taken   or 

1  The  Saxons  here  mentioned  were  the  descendants  of  those  German 
miners  who  emigrated  to  Servia  in  the  time  of  King  Vladislav,  1224-37, 
an  event  which  marked  the  beginning  of  the  development  of  the  mining 
industry  in  Servia. 


252  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

exacted  from  the  merop  which  is  not  prescribed  by 
the  law."  If  the  domain  exacts  beyond  what  the 
law  allowed,  or  in  any  way  oppressed  the  tenant,  the 
tenant  had  the  right  to  cite  the  over-lord  to  appear 
before  the  royal  or  imperial  courts  and  receive  justice. 
The  article  dealing  with  this  point  makes  it  clear 
that  there  is  to  be  no  respect  of  persons  in  the  applica- 
tion of  this  law,  to  which  any  person  of  any  rank 
whatever,  even  the  Ruler  himself,  is  amenable.  This 
Article  139  establishing  clearly  the  right  of  the  merop 
to  sue  for  justice  in  the  law  courts  irrespective  of  the 
rank  or  position  of  the  offender,  is  in  full  keeping 
with  the  modern  spirit  of  justice.  This  law  had  been 
in  practice  among  the  Serbs  as  early  as  the  twelfth 
century,  when  the  population  of  Western  Europe 
were  sunk  in  the  misery  of  the  Dark  Ages,  and  it  was 
incorporated  in  the  great  Servian  Codification  so  far 
back  as  1349,  when  Western  Europe  was  still  unable 
to  show  any  similar  conception  of  equality  before  the 
law — which,  indeed,  began  only  slowly  to  dawn  there 
in  the  seventeenth  century. 

Article  139  says:  "To  the  merop  in  the  realm  of 
My  Imperial  Majesty  the  over-lords  [public  officials, 
etc.]  shall  do  nothing  against  the  law  and  nothing 
exact  that  is  not  fixed  by  the  law.  The  merop  shall 
only  do  robot-work  and  give  to  their  over-lords  that 
which  My  Imperial  Majesty  has  inscribed  in  the  law. 
If  their  over-lords  should  do  anything  to  them  con- 
trary to  the  law  My  Imperial  Majesty  orders  that 
every  merop  shall  be  of  the  will  and  free  to  take  legal 
proceedings  against  his  over-lord  [so  offending]. 
Should  that  lord  be  even  My  Imperial  Majesty  or  the 


1     . 

. 

I?1 

^f   ■• 

■  « 

1    rf?          .* 

SEBAR   OR   COMMONER  253 

Empress,  or  the  Church  or  the  Vlastela  of  My  Im- 
perial Majesty  [State  officials],  or  whosoever  else — no 
one  shall  be  able  to  keep  him  away  from  the  law 
courts,  and  the  judge  shall  judge  his  case  as  it  is  ac- 
cording to  the  law.  If  before  the  courts  the  merop 
wins  against  his  over-lord  the  judge  shall  have  care  to 
see  that  the  over-lord  shall  pay  in  time  to  the  merop 
[what  the  court  awards,  without  delay].  The  judge 
shall  also  look  to  it  that  the  over-lord  takes  no  re- 
venge against  that  merop." 

Church  Tenants. — All  of  the  zemlyani  living  on 
the  Church  domains,  except  during  periods  of 
national  defence  against  the  Turks,  were  exempt 
from  all  imperial  robot-work  or  tax.  Article  26  says : 
"All  churches  within  my  Empire  are  free  from  all 
robot  great  and  small." 

The  list  of  these  exemptions  are:  (1)  Military 
service;  (2)  Building  corvee  or  robot  on  fortifica- 
tions, Grads,  or  other  State  buildings  (Article  128); 
(3)  Guarding  of  the  Grad ;  (4)  Furnishing  relays  for 
transport  service,  called  "provoz"  (Article  34), except 
when  the  Sovereign  himself  travels;  (5)  Feeding  and 
caring  for  the  horses  and  dogs  and  their  grooms, 
except  when  the  Sovereign  himself  stays  at  the 
Monastery  [document  of  King  Vladislav,  1224, 
to  the  Monastery  of  the  Mother  of  God];  (6) 
Huntsman's  service;  (7)  Convoy  or  guard  of  hon- 
our to  foreign  Ambassadors;  (8)  The  Imperial  tax 
of  "Sotje,"  dimnitza,  grazing  licence,  mast  licence 
[for  hogs]. 

All  of  these  exemptions  from  duties  to  which  all 
other  classes  of  zemlyani  were  subject  were  conceded 


254  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

to  the  church  domains  directly  by  the  State,  and  the 
church  tenants  incidentally  benefited  thereby. 

These  exemptions  existed  up  to  the  middle  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  monasteries  were  not,  for  all  that,  free  of 
obligations  toward  the  State  or  public.  In  return 
for  each  one  of  these  exemptions  a  public  duty 
of  another  kind  was  imposed  upon  the  monastery. 
(See  page  233.)  With  the  Turkish  invasion  many 
of  those  exemptions  were  repealed,  and  in  those 
times,  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  and  the  fifteenth 
centuries,  the  monasteries  participated  in  the  Turk- 
tax  [tribute],  military  service,  building  of  fortifi- 
cations, etc.  (Document  of  Vouk  Brankovich,  1392; 
Document  of  George  Brankovich,  1419;  Docu- 
ment of  Despot  Stephan  Lazarovich-Hrebelianovich, 
1411.) 

The  servitudes  of  the  zemlyani  or  tenants  of  the 
church  lands  toward  those  domains  varied  accord- 
ing to  the  statutes  or  deeds  founding  the  churches  and 
bestowing  them  with  land.  Documentary  evidence 
for  the  measure  of  robot-work  given  by  the  zemlyani 
to  the  church  can  be  found  in  many  documents  or 
deeds  of  that  period,  but  the  most  explicit  on  that 
subject  in  the  Saint  Stephan  Document  of  King 
Miloutin,  1313. 

The  measure  of  robot -work  of  the  zemlyani 
toward  the  church  were  of  three  kinds : 

(1)  The  first  kind  was  based  on  work  alone.  To 
each  house  of  the  zemlyani  was  given  a  fixed  extent 
of  land  of  the  church  estate  (Stoupovi)  to  be  worked ; 
the  extent  of  this  land  surface  was  from  seven  and  a 


SEBAR   OR   COMMONER  255 

half  to  nine  mats,1  which  land  surface  they  were 
bound  to  cultivate,  plough,  sow,  etc.,  delivering  the 
harvest  to  the  monastery.  It  was  the  monastery 
which  decided  what  crop  was  to  be  sown,  whether  of 
wheat,  oats,  barley,  etc.  This  measure  of  work  was 
exacted  from  the  agriculturalist.  The  handicrafts- 
men and  the  sokalniks,  in  view  of  their  other  duties, 
had  only  to  do  a  third  of  this  work  measure. 

In  the  case  of  single  families,  where  there  was  only 
one  man  (yedinatzi),  the  law  prescribed  that  several 
of  them  should  form  a  work  community,  which  com- 
munity would  represent  the  robot-unity;  and  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  Hegoumen  (Abbot)  to  organise  these 
communities  so  that,  as  the  law  says,  "the  duties 
should  not  fall  heavier  upon  the  yedinatz  than  upon 
a  household  living  in  Zadruga." 

A  curious  ordinance,  showing  that  the  spirit  of  the 
time  turned  more  to  the  agricultural  exploitation  of 
the  soil  than  to  the  development  of  industry  or  handi- 
craft, provides  that  among  the  sons  of  handicraftsmen, 
only  one  could  take  up  the  trade  of  his  father,  as 
"master  handicraftsman,"  the  others  becoming  either 
sokalniks  or  merops.  Similar  in  aim  was  the  regula- 
tion concerning  the  sons  of  priests.  Besides  the  till- 
ing of  the  soil  of  the  stipulated  surface  measure,  other 
robots  or  dues,  fixed  either  by  time  or  by  the  amount 
of  work,  were  incumbent  on  the  zemlyani  living  on  a 
church  domain.  Those  were  the  mowing  of  grass 
land,  working  of  the  remaining   arable   soil    of  the 

1  One  mat  was  identical  with  the  Italian  measure,  the  modius,  which  is 
equal  to  1992.5  square  yards;  or  one  mat  is  equal  to  two-fifths  of  an 
acre.  Seven  and  a  half  to  nine  mats  make  from  three  to  three  and  three- 
fifth  acres. 


256  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

church  estate,  vineyards,  etc.  This  servitude  was 
incumbent  on  all  and  everybody  (zamanizom,  i.  e. 
altogether).  The  other  robots  or  services  were  of  a 
negligible  quantity,  and  covered  this  or  the  other  of 
the  monastery's  needs,  such  as  hunter's  service, 
building,  transport,  etc.  Some  services  were  espe- 
cially required  from  merops,  some  from  sokalniks, 
others  from  maistors.  There  were  also  dues  "in 
kind,"  which  fell  on  one  or  the  other  of  the  zemlyani 
either  regularly,  like  the  "bee-tithe,"  or  extraordina- 
rily, as  on  the  occasion  of  the  visit  of  the  Ruler  to  the 
monastery. 

(2)  The  characteristic  of  the  second  manner  of 
allotting  the  work  (robot)  was  to  measure  it  exclu- 
sively by  time.  This  method  of  fixing  the  servitude 
incumbent  on  the  inhabitants  of  a  church  domain 
was  in  general  use  in  a  later  period,  the  fourteenth 
and  fifteenth  centuries.  The  Archangel  document  of 
Emperor  Stephan  Doushan,  fixing  the  servitude,  says: 
"Two  days  in  the  week,  'nad  dimicom'  [a  workman 
per  house  or  family],  they  shall  perform  the  robot 
apportioned  to  them  by  the  Hegoumen,  . .  .  make  hay, 
and  work  in  the  vineyard,  ...  as  the  law  says."  The 
Hilendar  document  of  the  same  Emperor  prescribes: 
"Two  days'  robot  in  the  week,  two  days'  in  the 
autumn,  one  day  ploughing  in  the  spring,  one  day 
haymaking  and  one  day  working  in  the  vineyard." 

These  ordinances  meant  that  each  house  was  to 
furnish  to  the  monastery,  one  worker  for  two  days  in 
the  week,  at  the  disposal  of  the  Hegoumen  (Abbot). 
There  was  also  certain  work  of  the  season  to  be  per- 
formed   by    everybody     (zamanizom) :     haymaking, 


SEBAR   OR   COMMONER  257 

autumn  and  spring  ploughing,  vineyard  work,  etc., 
fixed  at  two  days  in  the  year.  In  fixing  the  work 
duties  by  time,  no  difference  is  made  between  a 
merop,  a  sokalnik,  or  a  handicraftsman.  There  exist 
some  ordinances  concerning  individual  merops  or 
handicraftsmen  which  mitigate  for  these  individuals 
the  robot-work,  making  it  different,  or  fixing  money 
payment  in  its  place.  But  as  always  these  exceptions 
confirm  the  general  rule.  The  other  dues  incumbent 
on  the  zemlyani,  the  furnishing  of  lambskins,  flax, 
wine,  bee-tithes,  etc.,  were  of  a  negligible  quantity  in 
comparison  with  robot-service. 

(3)  The  third  plan  of  measuring  and  fixing  the 
servitude  of  tenants  on  the  church  domains  was  in 
contrast  with  the  two  foregoing  methods,  as  it  was  in 
principle  the  payment  of  rent  in  money  or  in  kind, 
but  not  in  work.  This  was  specially  the  case  with 
those  monasteries  whose  domains  were  very  small, 
comprising  almost  solely  the  church  estates.  In 
such  a  case  the  monastery,  instead  of  working  the 
church  lands  by  means  of  the  labour  due  to  the  do- 
main by  the  inhabitants,  settled  them  with  farmers 
who  were  simply  renters.  The  monastery  was  no 
longer  the  over-lord  but  the  landlord.  This  rent 
was  in  general  one-tenth  of  all  farm  produce. 

There  were  also  monasteries  which  owned  more  land 
than  could  be  worked  with  the  labour  dues  controlled 
by  them,  and  those  lands  were  let  out  to  others.  Many 
are  the  ordinances  which  forbade  the  letting  of  such 
land,  but  where  it  was  allowed  by  the  Sovereign  with 
the  consent  of  the  Sabor,  the  rent  was  fixed  either  at 
one-third  or  one-fourth  of  the  harvest  revenue. 


258  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

There  is  evidence  of  the  existence  of  many  church 
domains  where  all  three  methods  of  fixing  the  dues 
and  servitudes  were  in  use. 

The  Conditions  of  Robot  and  Dues  of  the  Zemlyani 
Living  on  Domains  Belonging  to  the  State,  the  Sover- 
eign, or  Private  Individuals. — The  conditions  of  ser- 
vice and  the  amount  of  dues  were  similar  to  those 
required  from  tenants  of  church  domains. 

According  to  the  Code  Doushan,  each  house  of  a 
zemlyanin  (merop)  had  to  give  the  labour  of  one 
man  during  two  days  each  week  in  cultivation  of 
the  domain.  Each  of  those  tenants  was  also  obliged 
to  work  (all  working  together)  one  day  in  the  year  at 
haymaking  and  one  day  at  vineyard  culture.  Article 
68  says:  "The  merop  [one  man  per  house]  shall  work 
two  days  each  week  for  the  Pronyiar  and  shall  pay 
the  Imperial  Perper.1  Further,  he  shall  work  one  day 
at  haymaking  and  one  day  in  the  vineyard,  and  that 
working  altogether  [zamanizom].  If  the  Pronyiar  has 
no  vineyard  he  can  apply  this  one  day's  [vineyard] 
labour  to  any  other  use.  What  a  merop  has  ploughed 
or  hoed  he  shall  also  reap,  but  in  addition  to  what 
is  fixed  by  the  law  nothing  shall  be  exacted  from 
him."  Article  139  and  other  articles  of  the  Code 
Doushan  also  strictly  forbade  the  over-lord  to  levy  any 
further  labour  dues  than  the  amount  fixed  by  the  law. 

In  addition  to  these  labour  dues  which  the  zem- 
lyanin gave  to  their  domain,  they  owed  to  the  State 
certain  duties,  viz.:  (1)  The  Sotje  tax  or  Imperial 
Perper,  which  tax  was  collected  by  the  over-lord  and 
delivered  by  him  to  the  imperial  treasury.      (2)  Mili- 

1  Perper  or  the  Sotje  tax,  payable  either  in  kind  or  money.    (Article  198.) 


SEBAR   OR   COMMONER  259 

tary  service — incumbent  upon  every  bashtinik  noble 
or  commoner.  (3)  In  connection  with  the  military 
service  was  the  quartering  of  the  imperial  troops  and 
the  army  transport  service.  However,  Article  135 
restricts  and  regulates  this  service,  providing  that  in 
a  village  district  where  troops  have  camped  in  passing 
through  the  land,  no  others  may  stop  during  the 
season.  (4)  To  lodge  and  give  hospitality  and  tran- 
sport service  to  the  imperial  convoy  (Article  60). 
(5)  To  feed  and  shelter  the  imperial  herds,  horses, 
dogs,  and  falcons  in  transit,  and  give  hospitality  to 
their  grooms.  These  duties  were  limited,  and  the 
villages  were  protected  by  legal  restrictions.  Article 
187  says:  "If  the  imperial  horses  or  herds  pause  at  a 
village,  the  grooms  and  herdsmen  shall  bear  an  im- 
perial letter"  (showing  their  right  to  receive  hos- 
pitality). Article  189  says:  "The  villagers  shall  give 
to  the  grooms,  herdsmen,  etc.,  only  what  is  mentioned 
in  the  imperial  letter  and  nothing  further."  Article 
38  is  in  the  same  sense.  (6)  The  zemlyani  also  gave 
to  the  State  manual  labour  for  the  building  of  forti- 
fications, fortresses,  castles,  and  other  public  con- 
structions (Articles  127,  128).  (7)  They  also  fur- 
nished service  as  guards  of  public  roads  and  fortresses 
in  their  own  districts  (Articles  157,  158).  (8)  Finally 
they  had  to  give  hospitality  and  act  as  guard  of 
honour  through  their  own  districts  to  foreign  am- 
bassadors and  to  certain  especially  mentioned  State 
dignitaries — the  State  banner-bearer,  the  chancellor, 
etc.  (Article  57) ;  but  the  stay  of  these  travellers  in  a 
village  or  district  was  limited  to  the  time  of  one  night 
and  two  meals  (Article  110).     Articles  155,  156  for- 


260  THE   SERVIAN    PEOPLE 

bade  any  other  Vlastelin  (nobleman  or  State  official) 
to  accept  "Priselitza"  (hospitality)  in  any  village  with- 
out paying  for  what  he  received,  unless  it  be  a  village 
in  his  own  domain.  Article  159  allowed  the  travel- 
lino-  merchant  or  tradesman  to  ask  of  the  village  one 
night's  lodging  and  food — without  payment. 

In  addition  to  these  duties  the  zemlyani  paid  a  tax 
to  the  ecclesiastical  authorities,  called  either  the  "dim- 
nica,"  "  Vrhovina,"  or  "Bir."  To  the  State  they  paid 
certain  occasional  surcharges  of  taxes — "podanci" 
and  "nameei";  further,  to  the  Zhupa,  the  Zhupa  tax, 
called  "Priplata."  What  all  those  taxes  exactly 
amounted  to  cannot  be  determined  from  the  docu- 
ments extant,  but  they  do  not  appear  to  have  been 
heavy  or  the  cause  of  complaint.  The  zemlyani  paid 
fees  for  grazing  or  mast-licences,  "  travina  "  or  "  zhiro- 
vina,"  for  cattle  and  hogs  on  lands  outside  of  the 
village  domain.  At  a  later  period  during  the  heavy 
time  of  defence  against  the  Turks  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury,  two  extra  taxes  were  introduced,  one  the"uncha," 
for  national  defence,  payable  in  two  instalments,  sum- 
mer and  winter,  similar  to  the  sotje,  and  the  so-called 
Turk-tax  to  meet  the  tribute  exacted  by  the  Sultans. 
Both  the  Uncha  and  the  Turk-tax  were  paid  by  every- 
body, nobleman  and  commoner,  church  and  laymen. 

Vlachs 

More  or  less  different  from  the  preceding  picture  is 
the  condition  of  the  vlachs  (cattle-raisers).  This 
term  vlachs  in  this  period  does  not  merely  designate 
the  descendants  of  the  ancient  Thako-Ulyrians  but 


SEBAR   OR    COMMONER  2G1 

was  applied  also  to  those  Servians  who  were  not 
agriculturalists  but  were  stock-raisers. 

The  different  circumstances  growing  out  of  the 
development  of  property  rights  first  in  the  valleys — 
which  were  settled  with  agriculturalists — then  ex- 
tending over  the  high  alpine  grazing  lands,  modified 
by  degrees  the  free  and  wide  roaming  of  the  vlachs, 
whose  sole  rule  had  been  to  follow  their  cattle  wher- 
ever they  might  lead,  seldom  returning  to  the  start- 
ing-point. These  roaming  habits  became  in  time 
regulated  and  limited  so  that  they  centred  about 
settlements.  There  was  the  winter  settlement,  or 
"zimishtye";  and  the  summer  settlement,  or  "le- 
tishtye"  (Article  197),  was  the  summer  grazing  range. 

The  permanent  settlement  of  the  vlachs,  the 
"Katoun,"  was  in  the  earlier  times  simply  the  scat- 
tered herdsmen's  huts  in  the  hills,  without  any  delimi- 
tation of  a  Katoun  district.  In  the  later  period  the 
Katoun  was  like  any  other  village. 

A  curious  phase  of  the  roaming  habits  of  the 
vlachs  was  that  from  ancient  times  they  were  the 
public  carriers  for  commerce  and  trade  throughout 
the  Balkan  Peninsula.  The  nomadic  character  of 
the  vlachs  caused  them  to  be  insensible  of  the  prop- 
erty rights  or  results  of  labour  of  the  other  inhabi- 
tants of  the  lands  they  traversed,  and  destructive  of 
property  and  of  social  organisation.  They  were  not 
looked  upon  with  favour,  and  their  passage  across 
the  lands  became  more  and  more  marked  by  quarrels 
and  law-suits. 

A  letter  from  the  Government  of  Ragusa  to  the 
King  of  Bosnia,  1406,  states  that   certain  vlachs,  at 


262  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

the  request  of  the  King,  had  been  permitted  to  winter 
on  Ragusan  territory,  and  complains  that  those 
vlachs  have  shown  themselves  to  be  quarrelsome, 
bad  people,  having  no  regard  for  others,  and  that  they 
had  wrought  great  damage  to  the  neighbourhood; 
that  they  had  also  killed  a  man,  and  that  henceforth 
the  Republic  of  Ragusa  would  refuse  to  give  permis- 
sion for  the  vlachs  to  winter  within   their  territory. 

As  early  as  the  time  of  Stephan  Nemanya,  in  1198, 
the  Servian  rulers  attempted  to  subject  the  vlachs 
to  some  regulation,  and  to  fix  them  in  settlements. 
As  a  rule  they  were  not  taken  into  the  army  except  to 
do  transport  service.  It  was  forbidden  by  law  for  a 
Servian  (agriculturalist)  to  marry  a  vlach  woman. 
If  such  a  marriage  occurred,  the  woman  had  to  leave 
the  vlachs  and  settle  in  her  husband's  village.  He 
was  not  allowed  to  join  the  cattle-breeders,  and  as  a 
penalty  he  lost  his  right,  for  him  and  his  children,  to 
bear  arms  in  the  defence  of  his  country.  He  was 
classed  with  the  transport  men. 

Among  other  protective  measures,  the  law  forbade 
the  vlachs  to  pass  during  the  same  year  where  other 
vlachs  had  passed  before  them,  or  to  follow  after  an 
imperial  or  State  convoy,  etc.  (Articles  82,  187,  135.) 
Article  82  adds:  "If  vlachs  violate  the  law,  the  oldest 
among  them,  their  leader,  shall  be  bound  and  de- 
livered to  the  headman  of  the  village  and  held  until 
they  have  paid  all  damage  done  sevenfold ;  also  they 
shall  pay  the  'Potka.'"1 

1  Potka  was  the  fine  for  trespassing.  It  was  one  hundred  perpers  for 
vlachs  and  fifty  perpers  for  agriculturalists.  Half  of  the  fine  went  to  the 
State  and  half  to  the  Domain.     (Article  77.) 


SEBAR   OR   COMMONER  263 

The  vlachs  were  judged  in  the  imperial  courts  for  all 
crimes:  bloodshed,  vendetta  ("djak"),  murder,  vio- 
lence, kidnapping,  robbery,  theft,  and  land  disputes. 
In  regard  to  petty  offences  among  themselves,  they 
came  before  the  Katoun  Elders  and  the  Katoun  court 
of  popular  judges,  called  Men  of  Conscience. 

Labour  and  Other  Dues  of  Vlachs. — The  chief  ex- 
tant documents  relating  to  this  subject  are  the  Hilen- 
dar  document  of  Stephan  Nemanye,  1198;  the  Hil- 
endar  document  of  King  Miloutin,  1293;  the  Saint 
Stephan  document  of  the  same  king;  the  letters  patent 
granted  by  King  Stephan  Doushan  to  the  monastery 
of  Hretovo,  1337;  and  the  Code  Doushan. 

If  vlachs  were  attached  to  a  domain,  either  church 
or  other,  they  gave  labour  dues  toward  the  stock- 
raising  of  the  domain,  sometimes  receiving  payment, 
when  the  stock  belonged  entirely  to  the  estate,  in  coin 
or  in  kind,  called  "mesetchina";  or  they  took  charge 
of  herds  on  shares.  In  such  cases  they  were  exempt 
from  all  other  work  and  dues.  The  vlachs  who  pos- 
sessed their  own  herds  gave  robot-dues — transport 
service,  haymaking,  or  even  ploughing;  or  in  lieu  of 
work  they  gave  the  domain  yearly  one  ewe  and  lamb 
with  one  fleece,  or  a  horse  or  other  animal;  in  leap 
years  an  extra  horse  or  other  animal,  or  thirty  perpers. 

There  were  separate  grazing  laws  fixing  the  licences 
for  the  winter  and  summer  ranging.  (Articles  81  and 
197 ;  and  further,  the  Detchanski  document,  1330,  and 
the  St.  Nicholas  document  of  King  Vladislav,  1234.) 
These  licences  were :  from  each  herd  of  three  hundred 
sheep,  two  sheep,  two  lambs,  one  cheese,  and  one 
heavy  dinar;  of  each  one  hundred  mares,  one  mare; 


264  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

of  each  one  hundred  head  of  cattle,  one  animal.  In 
small  herds  one  sheep  and  lamb  were  paid  out  of 
every  hundred.  The  licence  for  ranging  hogs  over 
oak-mast  were  in  like  proportions. 

9.  OTROKS 

The  class  of  otroks,  few  in  number  and  not  wide- 
spread, was  the  lowest  in  the  social  order,  yet  they 
were  never  slaves.  Their  situation  was  easier  than 
that  of  the  "serf"  in  Western  Europe.  They  had 
family  rights  and  property  rights;  they  were  judged 
for  crimes  by  the  Imperial  or  Royal  Courts  of  justice, 
though  they  did  not  have  the  right  of  personal  appeal 
to  the  Emperor  (Article  72)  enjoyed  by  all  other 
classes  of  the  Servian  social  organisation. 

What  the  otrok  really  was — whether  a  man  under 
ransom,  a  fugitive  criminal,  or  a  debtor — cannot  be 
determined,  but  whatever  his  origin,  he  was  not  a 
slave  or  bondsman,  and  his  position  was  superior  to 
that  class  to  which  the  term  "serf"  was  applied  in 
Western  Europe. 

Article  44  says:  "The  Otrok  shall  be  bashtina  to 
the  domain  to  which  they  belong,  but  an  Otrok  shall 
never  be  given  away  in  dowry  or  sold." 

His  rights  are  indicated  in  a  deed  of  exchange  of 
1419.  Prince  Alexa  Petrovitch  exchanges  his  "  Grad  " 
Biyela,  in  Bosnia,  with  the  Bosnian  Voyvod  Sandaly 
for  a  village  of  thirty  houses.  This  deed  fixes  as 
terms  that  "Alexa  shall  upon  the  surrendering  of  the 
Castle  vacate  it  with  all  his  family,  all  his  movable 
goods,  and  all  those  of  his   Otroks  who  choose  to 


OTROKS  265 

follow  him"  ("Servian  Monuments  in  the  Ragusan 
Archives,"  by  Prince  Medo  Putchich.)  Another 
document  of  King  Stephan  Doushan,  1336,  refers  to 
the  otroks  "who  voluntarily  become  part  of  a  Church 
domain."  The  document  enumerates  those  otroks 
by  name  showing  among  them  "a  master  smith." 

The  Hilendar  document  of  King  Miloutin,  1300, 
proves  that  the  otrock  enjoyed  complete  family 
rights:  "...  Desislav  and  his  son-in-law  Rad, 
Berislav,  his  son-in-law  Dragiya,  and  his  second  son- 
in-law  Tudor.  .  .  .  Stanko,  his  brother-in-law  [shura 
— brother  of  the  wife]  Dobre,  .  .  .  Radin  and  his 
brother-in-law  [pashenog — husband  of  the  wife's 
sister]  Dragiya,  .  .  ."  etc. 

Article  46  says:  "...  And  the  Otroks,  which 
some  Bashtiniks  have,  shall  be  in  bashtina;  .  .  . 
only  those  Otroks  whom  the  Bashtinik  or  his  wife  or 
his  son  can  'forgive'  [oprostiti]  shall  be  free." 

What  is  it  that  the  Vlastelin  has  to  forgive,  or  to 
what  did  this  "forgive"  [oprostiti]  apply?  The 
answer  is  perhaps  indicated  in  a  letter  written  by  the 
Council  of  Ragusa,  in  1408,  to  Princess  Mara  (La- 
zarovich)  and  her  son  George  Brankovich.  The 
Ragusan  Republic  sends  as  prisoner  with  this  letter 
a  Ragusan  citizen  named  Frank  Vassilyevich,  who  is 
a  debtor  [criminal  ?]  toward  Mara  and  her  son 
George,  and  who  had  not  been  able  to  wipe  out  his 
wrong  or  his  debt.  The  letter  states  that  this  is  the 
second  time  this  man  had  been  sent,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  Mara  and  her  son  George  had  previously 
held  him  once  and  let  him  go,  but  that  "now  they 
shall  have  him  again  and  do  with  him,  .  .  .  your 


266  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

debtor,  .  .  .  what  you  will."  ("  Servian  Monuments, 
Putchich.)  The  Servian  word  for  "transgressor"  or 
"debtor"  is  the  same,  which  appears  to  strengthen 
the  indications  that  an  otrok  was  a  debtor  either 
morally  or  materially  who  was  paying  his  debt  by 
personal  service.  A  phrase  of  the  Code  Doushan 
says  that  if  a  man  suffers  wrong  from  a  "bad"  otrok 
he  shall  not  claim  damages  from  the  otrok's  master, 
but  shall  take  redress  from  the  otrok  himself. 

Not  only  were  the  over-lord's  rights  to  dispose  of  the 
otrok  limited,  but  equally  restricted  were  his  powers 
of  jurisdiction  over  him.  Yet  the  otrok  was  the  only 
class  whatever  over  whom  the  lord  of  the  domain  held 
judicial  authority  of  even  the  smallest  nature.  Article 
103  says:  "...  The  Otroks  shall  be  able  to  enter 
suit  concerning  their  mutual  affairs  before  their  lord, 
but  in  regard  to  all  other  offences,  such  as  murder, 
manslaughter,  vendetta,  robbery,  theft,  kidnapping, 
etc., they  shall  be  judged  only  by  the  Imperial  Courts." 

Article  67  provides  that  the  merops  and  otroks 
shall  divide  among  themselves  the  land  of  a  village 
domain  according  to  the  proportion  in  which  they 
pay  their  robot  and  other  dues  to  the  domain.  This 
and  other  articles,  as  well  as  other  documents,  show 
that  the  otroks  were  able  to  possess  property. 

Anti-Slavery 

The  Servian  ideas  and  usages  concerning  slavery 
and  slave-trade  merit  more  than  passing  mention. 
The  Byzantine  Emperor,  Mavrikios  (d.  602),  says 
that  the  Serbs  did  not  put  their  prisoners  of  war  into 


OTROKS  267 

slavery  as  all  other  nations  did,  but  held  them  only 
a  certain  time  subject  to  ransom;  or  if  there  was  no 
ransom,  the  prisoner  was  allowed  to  remain  with 
them,  "free  and  friendly."  (Jirecek,  "History  of 
the  Bulgarians.") 

The  institution  of  slavery  as  then  practised  all  over 
the  rest  of  Europe  and  in  Byzance  was  wholly  un- 
known in  Servia.  There  is  no  document  to  show 
any  trace  of  slavery,  or  that  there  ever  existed  in 
mediaeval  Servia  any  class  of  human  beings  treated 
as  chattels  to  be  bought  and  sold.  Article  21  of 
the  Code  Doushan  says:  "Whoever  sells  a  Christian 
shall  lose  his  hand  and  have  his  nose  slit.   .   .  ." 

A  letter  of  the  Zhupan  Tchernomar,  1253,  to  the 
Republic  of  Ragusa  complains  that  the  Ragusans 
have  kidnapped  (stolen)  people  away  from  his  lands 
and  "sold  them  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea." 
("  Monumenta  Serbica.")  A  treaty  of  ]2.Y.y>  between 
King  Stephan  Ourosh  and  Ragusa  says  that  the 
Council  of  Ragusa  admits  that  there  are  persons  in 
Ragusa  whom  the  Ragusans  had  kidnapped,  but  that 
these  people  were  not  yet  sold,  and  that  they  under- 
take to  free  them  and  return  them  to  the  King. 

In  1320,  1325,  and  1340  strong  representations 
were  made  by  the  Servian  kings  against  slave-trade. 
The  original  documents  of  complaint  have  not  yet 
been  discovered,  but  there  are  extant  the  Ragusan 
ordinances  citing  these  representations.  These  or- 
dinances forbid  under  heavy  penalties  the  accepting, 
the  concealing,  the  selling,  or  the  transportation  to  a 
slave-market  of  Servian  men  or  women  as  slaves. 
In  the  ordinance  of   1325  the  same  prohibition   in 


268  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

regard  to  Servians  is  strictly  enjoined  upon  all  foreign 
traders  who  come  and  go  in  Ragusa. 

In  1400  the  King  of  Bosnia,  Stephan  Ostoya,  com- 
plains to  Ragusa  of  the  existence  of  slave-trade.  The 
answer  of  Ragusa  reads : " .  .  .  Be  it  known  to  thy  Maj- 
esty that  we  have  sent  orders  to  all  market  places  and 
published  that  no  persons  shall  buy  or  sell  human  be- 
ings. We  will  not  allow  that  any  one  shall  trade  in  hu- 
man flesh.  ...  If  any  person  is  found  acting  contrary 
to  this  order  we  will  so  punish  him  that  no  beholder 
[or  those  who  see  it]  shall  ever  dare  to  do  the  same." 

There  is  a  letter  written  in  1419  from  Ragusa  to 
Prince  Paul  Youriyevich  which  reads:  "...  And 
what  you  [Prince  Paul]  write  us  about  those  who  have 
sold  human  beings,  it  is,  dear  friend,  already  known 
to  the  whole  world  that  we  have  taken  much  pains, 
have  written  much,  have  ordered  much,  and  have 
made  known,  in  so  far  as  our  power  goes,  that  human 
beings  shall  not  any  more  be  bought  or  sold.   .   .   ." 

With  the  coming  of  the  Turkish  invasion,  slave- 
trade,  which  was  a  normal  condition  of  the  Ottoman 
social  and  political  organisation,  and  which,  indeed, 
was  then  practised  in  most  regions  of  the  world,  was  in- 
troduced for  the  first  time  into  Serb  lands,  and  under 
the  Turkish  domination  flourished  as  a  legitimate  form 
of  commerce. 

10.    THE   ADMINISTRATION   OF  JUSTICE 

From  the  twelfth  century  to  the  middle  of  the 
fifteenth  century  the  judicial  system  in  the  Ser- 
vian State,  as  it  existed  under  the  Servian  Empire, 
before  that  under  the  Kingdom,  and  even  at  a  far 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   JUSTICE      269 

earlier  period,  was  one  of  the  noblest  monuments  of 
Servian  civilisation  and,  indeed,  of  all  Christian 
civilisation  of  that  day.  It  was  King  Miloutin,  in 
1290,  who,  basing  himself  on  the  old  usages  and 
customs,  first  firmly  formulated  the  administration 
of  justice  in  Servia. 

Before  his  time  justice  was  administered  locally  in 
the  counties  or  Zhupas  by  a  popularly  elected  court 
of  judges  (kind  of  jury)  and  by  the  Sovereign  in 
person.  King  Miloutin  organised  a  body  of  judges 
learned  in  the  law,  which  formed  part  of  the  regular 
State  administration.  They  became  the  Royal  and, 
later  on,  the  Imperial  Judges.  Each  judicial  dis- 
trict had  a  bench  of  "learned"  judges  appointed  by 
the  Sovereign. 

Early  in  the  thirteenth  century  the  principle  of 
circuit  courts  and  travelling  judges  were  Servian 
institutions. 

Article  179  says:  "The  judges  shall  travel  through 
their  districts  [circuits]  and  look  into  the  affairs  of 
the  poor  and  oppressed  and  right  their  wrongs  then 
and  there,"  being  invested  with  powers  of  public 
prosecutors. 

Article  180  says:  "Judges  while  travelling  are  not 
allowed  to  exact  or  take  by  force  anything,  either 
food  or  any  other  thing.  They  can  accept  only  what 
is  voluntarily  offered  them."  (They  received  incomes 
from  the  State  as  pronyars.) 

The  Courts  were:  (1)  The  Royal,  later  Imperial 
Courts,  comprising  the  Circuit  or  District  Courts, 
the  presiding  Judges  of  which  were  appointed  by  the 
Sovereign  (Article  179),  and  the  Courts  of  the  Grads 


270  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

or  Town  Courts,  over  which  presided  the  Kephalia. 
(2)  the  Village  or  Rural  Courts  composed  of  judges 
locally  elected.  (3)  Commercial  Courts,  of  which 
the  presiding  judges  were  State  officials  connected 
with  the  Treasury  Department.  They  were  the 
"Tzariniks,"  who  were  intrusted  also  with  the  col- 
lection of  the  inland  and  customs  revenues.  (4)  the 
Ecclesiastical  Courts. 

In  all  cases  civil  or  criminal,  decision  was  reached 
by  means  of  a  jury,  an  institution  existing  from 
earliest  ages  in  the  administration  of  Servian  Justice. 

The  Royal,  later  Imperial  Courts,  judged  all 
matters,  civil  or  criminal;  every  citizen  of  the  State 
had  the  right  to  ask  justice  of  those  courts  or  of  the 
Sovereign  himself.     (Article  72.) 

Equality   Before  the  Law  and  Rights  of  the  Indi- 
vidual 

The  Sovereign  himself  (the  Emperor),  according 
to  the  Code  Doushan,  could  be  cited  before  the 
courts  by  the  meanest  of  his  subjects  for  an  offence 
which  would  bring  any  other  individual  there. 
Article  139  says:  "The  Vlastelin  shall  not  do  any- 
thing contrary  to  the  law  against  a  Merop  in  the 
lands  of  My  Imperial  Majesty.  The  Merop  shall 
only  'robot'  and  give  to  their  over-lord  what  My 
Imperial  Majesty  has  prescribed  in  the  law.  If  their 
over-lord  shall,  contrary  to  the  law,  do  them  any 
wrong,  so  My  Imperial  Majesty  orders :  each  Merop 
shall  be  '  of  the  will '  and  free  to  sue  his  over-lord  in 
the  law  courts,  should  that  over-lord  be  My  Impe- 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   JUSTICE      271 

rial  Majesty,  or  the  Empress,  or  the  Church,  or 
the  Vlastele  of  My  Imperial  Majesty  [Government 
officials],  or  any  one  else.  No  person  shall  have  the 
power  to  keep  him  away  from  the  courts,  and  the 
judges  shall  judge  his  case  on  its  merits  according  to 
the  law,  and  if  before  the  court  the  Merop  win  his 
case  against  his  over-lord  the  imperial  judge  shall 
take  care  to  see  to  it  that  the  over-lord  pays  to  the 
Merop  and  in  time  what  the  judgment  awards.  The 
judge  shall  also  see  to  it  that  the  over-lord  does  not 
take  any  revenge  against  the  Merop." 

Article  172  says:  "All  judges  shall  judge  according 
to  the  law  as  it  is  written  and  prescribed  in  the 
'Zakonik'  [Code  Doushan]  and  not  in  fear  before 
My  Imperial  Majesty." 

Article  171 :  "In  case  My  Imperial  Majesty  should 
give  to  any  person  a  'writing'  in  anger  or  in  friend- 
ship or  in  grace,  which  is  contrary  to  the  law  and  not 
according  to  justice  or  the  legal  ordinances,  the  judge 
shall  pay  no  heed  to  that  writing  and  shall  judge 
regularly  and  according  to  law  and  shall  see  to  it 
that  his  judgment  is  executed." 

Article  72  edicts  that  every  member  of  the  popula- 
tion except  the  otrok  had  the  right  to  ask  the  Sov- 
ereign personally  to  sit  in  judgment  on  his  case. 
This  popular  privilege,  however,  led  to  such  extraor- 
dinary abuse  that  it  was  limited  by  the  legislative 
assembly  of  1354  in  Articles  181  and  182,  which 
latter  decreed  that  "No  person  living  within  a 
court  circuit  shall  call  his  adversary  or  cause  him  to 
be  called  before  the  Emperor  for  judgment.  Further 
he  shall  not  have  the  right  to  bring  his  adversary 


272  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

before  a  court  out  of  his  own  district,  but  he  shall 
sue  for  judgment  in  the  courts  within  his  own  dis- 
trict."    (See  also  Article  175.) 

So  long  as  an  individual  had  not  been  personally 
served  with  a  writ  to  appear,  the  Court  could  not  pro- 
nounce judgment  against  him  or  her.     (Article  104.) 

"If  a  case  concerns  a  poor  widow  who  is  not 
in  a  position  to  complain  or  to  go  before  the  court 
to  defend  herself,  she  shall  nominate  a  substitute 
who  shall  speak  for  her  in  the  case."  (Articles  66 
and  73.) 

Article  184  forbids  imprisonment  without  a  writ 
of  judgment  or  a  written  order  of  the  judge.  It  says : 
"None  of  the  Vlastele  [here  referring  to  adminis- 
trators] or  Kephalia  having  the  administration  of 
Grads  and  market-places  shall  imprison  a  man  with- 
out an  imperial  writ  or  an  order  of  the  judge.  Should 
any  man  do  so  without  this  express  writ,  he  shall  pay 
a  fine  of  five  hundred  perpers." 

Article  185  is  to  the  same  effect,  but  applies  to  the 
administrators  of  State-prisons. 

These  imperial  writs  were  securely  prevented  from 
ever  assuming  the  character  of  the  "lettres  de  cachet" 
of  the  French  kings  at  the  time  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion by  the  general  observation  of  many  safeguards 
to  the  people's  rights  provided  by  the  Servian  law — 
notably  in  Articles  139,  171,  etc.,  setting  the  Sover- 
eign, before  justice,  on  an  equality  with  the  humblest 
of  his  subjects. 

Articles  112  and  113  give  the  right  of  asylum  and 
protection  to  any  unjustly  persecuted  person  at  either 
the  Emperor's  court  or  that  of  the  Patriarch. 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   JUSTICE      273 


Procedure 

The  order  of  court  procedure  was:  The  complaint 
or  accusation ;  issue  of  the  writ  or  citation  before  the 
court;  service  of  the  writ  on  the  defending  party; 
appearance  of  the  complainant  and  defendant  before 
the  court;  statement  of  the  complaint  and  defence; 
argument  of  the  complaint  or  prosecution ;  argument 
of  the  defence;  judgment  and  execution  of  the  judg- 
ment. The  proofs  accepted  in  both  criminal  and 
civil  cases  were:  The  testimony  of  witnesses,  written 
proof,  such  as  letters,  documents,  etc.,  and  the  appli- 
cation of  an  oath  to  the  accused  or  the  contestants.1 

The  procedure  and  conduct  of  the  cases  before  the 
courts  were  verbal,  but  the  verdicts  and  judgments 
rendered  were  written.  The  litigants  were  not  al- 
lowed to  become  personal  or  abusive  to  each  other 
in  the  presence  of  the  court,  but  were  bound  to  main- 
tain correct  attitude  and  behaviour.  They  were  not 
allowed  to  change  the  complaint  during  the  course 
of  the  trial. 

All  judgments  were  as  a  rule  definitive.  Only 
cases  which  one  of  the  judges  desired  to  take  for  a 
higher  opinion  were  "appealed"  and  taken  before 
the  Sovereign. 

Article  181  provides  that  should  the  suit  concern 
a  difficult  matter,  "and  should  the  judges  find  theni- 

1  The  superstitious  means  of  ascertaining  guilt  called  the  "judgment 
of  God,"  trial  by  ordeal,  water,  fire,  etc.,  then  in  general  use  all  over 
Europe,  was  permitted  in  Servia,  though  it  was  no  part  of  the  regular 
procedure,  and  was  not  much  employed.  The  person  so  condemned  had 
the  right  by  law  to  appeal  to  the  Sovereign  for  clemency. 


274  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

selves  unable  to  come  to  a  decision  in  pure  justice, 
.  .  .  one  of  the  judges  shall  come  with  both  litigants 
before  My  Imperial  Majesty." 

Article  163  says:  "All  judgments  rendered  by  the 
courts  must  be  written  in  books  kept  for  that  pur- 
pose. The  persons  in  whose  favour  the  judgment  is 
pronounced  shall  receive  from  the  court  a  written 
copy  of  that  judgment."  (See  also  Article  181  to  the 
same  effect.) 

Article  89  says:  "If  a  man  causes  another  one  to  be 
brought  before  the  court  under  an  accusation  and 
himself  fails  to  be  present  in  court  when  the  accused 
comes  up  for  trial,  the  accused  after  having  waited 
during  the  time  fixed  by  law  shall,  if  his  accuser  does 
not  appear  in  court,  be  considered  free  from  the 
accusation"  (i.  e.  the  case  against  him  is  dismissed). 

Article  148  says:  "If  a  judge  appointed  by  My  Im- 
perial Majesty  shall  give  an  order  concerning  a  robber 
or  a  thief,  or  any  prosecution  or  law-suit,  all  who  fail 
to  obey  the  judge's  writ,  whether  a  Church  authority 
or  a  Vlastelin  or  any  other  human  being  within  my 
Empire,  shall  be  punished  as  disobedient  and  dis- 
loyal to  My  Imperial  Majesty"  (i.  e.y  punished  by 
confiscation  of  property). 

Article  111  says  that  if  any  Vlastelin  insults  a 
judge  when  serving  in  his  official  capacity,  or  show 
contempt  for  a  judgment  rendered,  all  his  property 
shall  be  confiscated;  should  a  village  so  offend,  it 
shall  be  dispersed. 

Each  judge  was  assisted  in  the  execution  of  the 
judgment  rendered  and  in  all  other  proceedings  of 
the  court  by  the  "Pristav,"  or  sheriff,  and  his  men, 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   JUSTICE      275 

called  "  Sokalniks, "  who  served  the  writs  and  did 
police  duties.  This  Pristav  was  invested  with  the 
right  to  act  as  public  prosecutor;  he  could  also  act 
as  the  defender  of  an  accused  person. 

Money  fines  were  collected  by  an  officer  called 
"Globar,"  "Globa"  being  the  fine  itself. 

The  authority  exercised  by  the  Pristavs  and  Sokal- 
niks in  the  fulfilment  of  their  duties  is  shown  in 
Article  107:  "If  any  person  resists  a  Pristav  or  the 
Sokalnik  of  a  judge  (in  the  execution  of  his  duties) 
his  property  shall  be  liable  to  confiscation." 

Article  178  says:  "Should  persons  resist  the  exe- 
cution of  a  judge's  order  placed  in  the  hands  of  his 
Pristav  or  Sokalnik  or  send  them  away,  the  judges 
shall  commission  the  Khephalias  or  Vlastele  [ad- 
ministrators] of  those  districts  to  execute  the  orders 
of  the  court.  Should  those  administrators  [Govern- 
ment Officials]  in  turn  refuse  to  execute  the  judge's 
order,  they  shall  also  be  punished  in  the  same  way  as 
the  other  disobedient  persons"  {i.  e.,  by  confiscation 
of  property). 

The  Pristavs,  who  must  be  "good,  just,  and  vera- 
cious" men  (Article  163),  in  serving  a  writ  may  not 
deliver  it  to  the  wife,  if  the  husband  is  not  at  home. 
Neither  is  it  permitted  to  cite  the  wife  before  the 
court  without  her  husband.  The  wife  shall  inform 
her  husband  that  he  is  called  to  appear  before  the 
court,  but  so  long  as  he  remains  in  ignorance  of  that 
fact  he  cannot  be  considered  guilty."  (Article  104.) 
Article  162  provides  that  the  Pristavs  shall  not  act 
except  in  strict  accordance  with  the  written  order 
put  in  their  hands  by  the   judge.     "Therefore   the 


276  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

judges  shall  always  retain  a  copy  of  the  orders  or 
writs  given  by  them  to  their  Pristavs  or  Sokalniks. 
Should  those  officers  of  the  court  be  accused  of  exe- 
cuting otherwise  than  was  ordered  in  the  writ,  or  of 
altering  the  terms  of  the  writ,  they  shall  justify  them- 
selves before  the  court,  and  should  it  be  proven  that 
they  have  executed  the  court's  order  in  exact  accord- 
ance with  the  writ — of  which  the  judge  has  a  true 
copy,  they  shall  be  declared  innocent,  but  if  it  be 
proven  that  they  did  fail  to  execute  the  judge's  order 
in  strict  accordance  with  its  terms,  or  that  they  altered 
those  terms,  they  shall  as  punishment  have  both 
hands  cut  off  and  their  tongues  cut  out." 

The  Constitution  of  Juries 

The  Constitutiofi  of  Juries  (Code  Doushan,  Articles 
76,  80,  151,  152,  153).— The  most  ancient  judicial  in- 
stitution among  the  Serbs  was  the  jury.  From 
times  of  earliest  records  every  man  had  to  be  judged, 
whether  in  civil  or  criminal  cases,  by  his  peers.  This 
is  clearly  formulated  in  the  Code  Doushan  (Article 
152):  "As  in  the  time  of  my  grandfather,  the  holy 
King  Miloutin,  the  Vlastelin  shall  be  judged  only 
by  Vlastelins,  the  Commoner  by  Commoners,"  re- 
ferring to  the  composition  of  the  jury. 

Documents  show  that  a  nobleman  was  judged  by 
nobles,  a  commoner  by  commoners,  a  commercial 
man  by  commercial  men,  a  handicraftsman  by  handi- 
craftsmen, agriculturalists  or  merops  by  men  of  their 
own  condition ;  and  even  the  otrok  had  a  right  to  be 
judged  by  a  jury  of  otroks.     In  mixed  cases,  vlas- 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   JUSTICE      277 

telin  and  commoner,  etc.,  the  jury  was  composed  half 
of  noblemen  and  the  other  half  of  commoners,  etc. 

The  Servian  jurymen  were  especially  elected  for 
each  case.  They  were  sworn  to  give  justly  and  truly 
the  result  of  their  opinion,  being  entitled  to  say  only 
"guilty"  or  "not  guilty."  The  Code  Doushan,  re- 
ferring to  the  jury,  says,  Article  151 :  "From  this  time 
forth  the  jury,  to  judge  in  both  important  cases  and 
those  of  less  importance,  shall  be  composed  of  twenty- 
four  jurors  for  the  great  suits,  twelve  for  lesser  ones, 
and  for  small  affairs  six  jurymen.  The  juryman 
must  not  be  a  relative  of  either  party  to  the  suit, 
neither  shall  he  be  in  friendship  or  at  enmity  with 
either.  The  juror  shall  only  pronounce  'guilty'  or 
'not  guilty'  [or  in  civil  cases  who  is  right  and  who  is 
wrong]."     A  majority  decided. 

Article  80  refers  to  land  actions.  In  case  of  a 
boundary  dispute  between  villages,  for  example,  each 
of  the  two  villages  furnished  one-half  of  the  jury  and 
•the  court  was  held  on  the  site  of  the  ground  in  dispute. 
According  to  the  procedure  a  fixed  number  of  wit- 
nesses were  cited,  chosen  generally  from  among  the 
oldest  inhabitants.  These  witnesses,  like  the  jurors, 
were  put  under  the  "terrible"  oath.      (Article  151.) 

The  Detchanski  document  referring  to  a  certain 
boundary  litigation  says:  "There  were  present  the 
Judge  Bogdan,  the  jury,  the  witnesses,  and  the 
'Zbor'  of  the  villages." 

The  jury  was  sworn  in  by  the  priest  under  what 
was  called  the  "terrible  oath,"  and  they  deliberated 
within  the  Church.      (Article  151.) 

There  were  juries  of  three  natures: 


278  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

(1)  The  oldest  form,  the  "Porota,"  was  made  up 
of  popular  judges  chosen  from  among  the  inhabi- 
tants for  the  occasion.  They  were  sworn  in  to  listen 
to  the  case.  They  not  only  gave  judgment,  but  from 
among  their  number  named  certain  members  to  see 
that  the  judgment  was  executed. 

(2)  The  type  most  resembling  the  modern  jury 
was  called  either  "Porota"  (Porotnik)  or  "Dou- 
shevni  Lyudi"  (Doushnik).  They  found  a  verdict, 
and  it  was  the  duty  of  the  royal  or  imperial  judges 
who  presided  to  pronounce  sentence  and  enforce  the 
execution  of  the  judgment. 

(3)  The  third  sort  of  jury  was  the  "Dobri  Lyudi" 
or  "men  of  good  conscience"  who  were  not  sworn  in, 
but  who  acted  as  arbitrators  and  mediators  in  small 
litigations. 

Ecclesiastical  Courts 

The  questions  which  were  judged  by  the  ecclesias- 
tical courts  were  those  bearing  directly  on  morality 
and  the  sacraments,  such  as  marriage,  divorce,  adul- 
tery, blasphemy,  etc.  The  judge  presiding  over 
these  courts  was  called  the  "Archiyereyin."  (Articles 
2  and  12.)  No  layman  was  qualified  to  sit  in  judg- 
ment on  such  matters. 

Marriage  was  a  sacrament  and  was  legalised  by 
the  church  only.  The  church  alone,  and  that  in 
rare  cases,  could  pronounce  divorce  (a  usage  which 
still  obtains  in  the  Servia  of  to-day).  The  Code 
Doushan  says:  "If  a  husband  repudiates  his  wife, 
he  must  pay  penalty:  if  a  Vlastelin,  a  penalty  of  six 
oxen;    if  he  be  a  lesser  noble,  two  horses;    and  if  a 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   JUSTICE      279 

commoner,  two  oxen.  If  a  wife  abandons  her  hus- 
band the  penalties  are  the  same,  but  if  she  cannot  pay 
these  fines  her  punishment  may  be  commuted  into 
strokes  with  the  lash.  The  husband  has  the  right 
forcibly  to  take  her  back.  In  case  the  husband  has 
abandoned  his  wife  he  is  forced  to  return  to  her;  if 
he  has  meantime  cohabited  with  another  woman  he 
shall  be  forced  to  abandon  that  woman  and  return 
to  his  wife.  A  heavy  punishment  of  lashes  was 
visited  on  the  woman  who  abandoned  her  husband 
for  another  man.  Parents  were  forbidden  to  en- 
courage a  daughter  to  abandon  the  husband's  home. 

DO  ... 

Every  subject  had  the  right  to  sue  for  justice  in 
the  imperial  courts  of  justice — district  or  circuit 
courts  or  others.  One  article,  however,  of  the  Code 
Doushan  appears  to  be  at  variance  with  these  rights, 
and  in  it  certain  students  have  detected  the  presence 
of  "feudal"  justice  in  Old  Servia.  That  article  is 
somewhat  obscure  in  terms.  It  is  Article  33,  which 
says:  "The  church  people  shall  bring  their  law- 
suits before  their  archbishop,  bishop,  or  igouman. 
If  both  parties  belong  to  the  same  church,  they  shall 
stand  for  justice  before  the  head  of  that  church,  but 
if  they  belong  to  two  different  churches,  the  heads  of 
both  churches  shall  sit  in  judgment." 

Only  three  papers  among  a  large  mass  of  docu- 
ments indicate  that  Article  33  might  refer  to  church 
tenants.  Those  documents  are:  (1)  Prince  Con- 
standin  to  the  Church  of  the  Ascension  at  Shtip,  1388, 
and  (2)  Tsar  Lazar  Hrebelianovich,  1387,  to  the 
Russian  Church  of  St.  Panteleymon  on  Mount  Athos. 
The  third  document  is  the  confirmation  of  the  last  by 


280  THE  SERVIAN    PEOPLE 

the  widow  of  Tsar  Lazar,  Militza  (then  a  nun  under 
the  name  of  Eugenia).  It  is  signed  by  her  and  her 
two  sons  Stephan  and  Vouk,  1395.  (Olasnik, 
XXIV,  pp.  271-287.) 

All  other  documents,  such  as  those  of  Emperor 
Doushan,  1347,  to  the  Monastery  of  Lyeshnovo 
(Glamik,  XXVII);  of  King  Miloutin,  1322,  to  the 
Monastery  of  Gratchanitza  ("Monuments  Serbica"  ; 
the  Detchanski  document,  1330  (Glamik,  XII  I;  a 
document  of  King  Doushan,  133G  ("Mod.  Serb." 
a  document  of  Despot  Stephan  Lazarovich-Hrebeiia- 
novich,  1403,  to  Hilendar  ("Mon.  Serb."),  with  all 
the  others  extant,  are  in  complete  accordance  with  the 
spirit  of  free  justice  exemplified  by  the  Servian  Codex. 

It  is  evident  that,  with  some  few  exceptions,  the 
church  tenants  went  for  justice  to  the  ordinary  pub- 
lic courts  of  justice. 

Private  Law 

All  matters  relating  to  private  law  concerning 
property  rights,  inheritance,  bashtina,  servitudes,  etc., 
and  the  rights  of  the  individual  were  clearly  defined 
in  the  Code  Doushan,  though  most  of  them  were 
regulated  by  usage  rather  than  by  the  written  law. 

Criminal  and  Penal  Law 

All  crimes  and  penal  offences  came  under  the 
direct  jurisdiction  of  the  Royal  or  Imperial  Courts, 
and  no  person  of  whatever  rank  was  above  the  law. 

The  Code  Doushan  shows  an  advance  in  justice 
as  then  administered  over  the  rest  of  Europe  in  that 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   JUSTICE     281 

money  fines  did  not  make  up  the  sole  sort  of  punish- 
ment applied.  Long  imprisonment  pending  heavy 
ransom  was  not  practised  in  Servia,  although  prisoners 
of  war  were  sometimes  held  for  ransom  during  a  cer- 
tain lapse  of  time.  They  were  generally  well  fed  and 
allowed  to  take  the  air.  Such  a  captive  says  in  the 
ballad  of  "Ban  Strahinya,"  "Red  wine  didst  thou 
give  me  and  white  bread,  and  oft  brought  me  forth 
to  the  sunshine." 

The  Servian  modes  of  punishment  as  fixed  by  the 
law  included  not  only  money  fines,  but  imprisonment, 
the  lash,  the  death  penalty,  dismissal  from  office,  and 
dispersal  of  villages.  The  confiscation  of  property, 
so  common  in  Western  Europe,1  lay  alone  in  the 
power  of  the  Sovereign  in  Servia,  and  was  very  re- 
stricted by  the  laws  to  certain  well-defined  cases  of 
crime,  such  a-  high  treason,  robbery,  resistance  to 

cution  of  a  judicial  order,  and  the  forgery  of  public 
unents.      [See  Articles  no.  111,  107,  138  of  the 
(    .  le  Doushan. 

[nsult,  bodily  injury,  manslaughter,  illegal  percep- 
tion, or  extortion  of  taxes  or  customs  dues,  and 
illegal  imprisonment  without  judgment,  were  pun- 
ished   by   money   fin-  impanied   by   corporal  or 

other  severe  punishment.  A  juryman  for  a  preju- 
diced "finding"  in  the  exercise  of  his  duties  was  pun- 
ished  by  a  fine  of  one  thousand  perpers,  and  was 
liable  as  well,  according  to  circumstances,  to  corporal 

■These  money  fil  the  punishments  usually  inflicted  by   "Jus- 

Hurope,  and  were   in  reality  only  means  of 

rtkrn,  by  tortui  r  to  extract  confessions  that  would  entail  the 

■  r  the  opportunity  to  seize  an  individual's  estate 

or  belong 


282  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

punishment.  The  same  punishment  was  meted  out 
to  a  judge  for  a  like  offence.  In  cases  where  a  fine 
was  inflicted  it  could  be  transmuted,  as  at  the  pres- 
ent day,  into  imprisonment. 

A  judge  could  commit  the  accused  to  prison  await- 
ing trial.  If  the  prisoner,  however,  could  find  a  per- 
son or  persons  to  give  bond,  and  guarantee  his  attend- 
ance at  the  court  for  trial  and  judgment,  he  could 
ask  and  obtain  liberation  pending  his  trial. 

The  crime  or  offence  was  always  the  same  in  the 
eyes  of  the  law  by  whomsoever  committed. 

A  differentiation  was  made  in  regard  to  the  stand- 
ard of  punishment  for  certain  crimes  considered  as 
offences  not  so  much  against  public  order  as  against 
the  private  individual  as  an  individual.  (Articles  53, 
55,  85,  etc.)  For  all  crimes  against  public  order, 
such  as  murder,  robbery,  incendiarism,  theft,  etc., 
exactly  the  same  punishment  was  inflicted  upon  the 
highest  noble  as  upon  the  individual  lowest  in  the 
social  order.  (Articles  21,  93,  95,  96,  107,  118,  130, 
140,  144,  etc.) 

In  regard  to  those  offences,  where  a  differentiation 
of  punishment  existed  as  applied  to  persons  of  differ- 
ent social  orders,  the  disparity  was  exceedingly  slight 
in  comparison  with  the  justice  meted  out  in  Western 
Europe  at'  the  same  period  to  persons  of  different 
social  ranks. 

Servia  never  knew  feudal  justice  in  mediaeval 
times  or  at  any  other  period.  Never  in  the  Servian 
State  did  the  Lord  of  the  Domain  possess  right  of 
justice  over  his  tenants.  The  only  member  of  the 
population  who  received  a  kind  of  ''feudal  justice," 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   JUSTICE      283 

and  that  only  in  regard  to  petty  fights,  disputes,  and 
affairs  with  those  of  his  own  order,  was  the  otroI\ 
(Article  103. )  But  although  he  came  before  the 
over-lord  of  the  domain  in  these  matters,  even  the 
otrok,  in  regard  to  all  serious  offences  and  crimes, 
such  as  murder,  manslaughter,  vendetta,  robbery, 
theft,  kidnapping,  etc.,  went  for  trial  before  the 
public  courts  of  justice. 

The  two  greatesl  crimes  against  society  were  con- 
sidered by  the  Servian  State  to  be  robbery  and  the 
abuse  of  power.  Article  1  12  says:  "If  a  Vlastelin, 
whom  My  Imperial  Majesty  has  given  land  and 
Grad  to  administer,  should  plunder  or  oppress  the 
villages  or  the  people  or  disobey  the  ordinances  and 
laws  given  by  My  Imperial  Majesty  at  the  Sabor, 
his  administrative  territory  shall  be  taken  away 
and  the  damages  and  depredations  he  has  com- 
mitted shall  be  paid  by  his  house  and  he  himself 
shall    be  punished   like  a   fugitive  from  justice." 

Article  ■'>'  "It*  a  Vlastelin  is  on  Priselitza 

[hospitality  rights],  and  on  that  occasion  abuses  this 
right    or   does   damages,  or   plunders,    puts  fire   to 

houses,    etc such    Vlastelin    shall    loose    his 

administrative  territory,  shall  not  any  more  be  given 
any  administrative  post,  and  shall  be  punished  like 
a  fugiti\ 

It  is  supposed  that  the  special  stigma  on  "robbery" 

was  emphasised  by  the  necessity  of  safe-guarding  the 

security  of  the  public  roads,  as  the  great  land  route 

between  Western  Europe  and  the  Orient  lay  through 

ia  then  as  now. 

Articles  145  and  173  deal  with  robbers  and  thieves. 


284  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

Article  145  says:  "Throughout  all  the  land  .  .  . 
there  shall  be  no  robber  nor  no  thief;  ...  the  village 
where  a  robber  or  a  thief  is  found  shall  be  dispersed ; 
...  a  robber  shall  be  hanged  and  a  thief  blinded. 

.  .  The  over-lord  of  the  village  shall  be  brought 
bound  before  the  court  ...  he  shall  pay  back  all 
that  was  robbed  or  stolen  .  .  .  and  [in  certain  cases] 
shall  be  punished  in  the  same  way  as  the  robber  or 
the  thief." 

Article  173  says:  "If  a  Vlastelin,  be  he  Greek, 
German,  or  Serb,  bring  in  his  train  to  the  Imperial 
Court  a  robber  or  a  thief,  he  shall  receive  the 
same  punishment  as  that  given  to  the  robber  or 
the  thief." 

All  evidence  seems  to  indicate  that  the  Rulers  of 
mediaeval  Servia  were  successful  in  practically  stamp- 
ing out  robbery,  and  securing  an  astonishing  measure 
of  security  to  travellers,  at  a  time  when  in  the  rest 
of  Europe  highway  robbery  was  a  flourishing  and 
highly  profitable  profession. 

Responsibility  and  Restitution 

Another  most  interesting  phase  of  Servian  legisla- 
tion was  the  principle  of  "responsibility."  This 
principle  grew  out  of  the  ancient  usages  of  common 
life  and  the  solidarity  of  interests  in  the  house  com- 
munity, the  Zadruga,  the  Grad,  and  the  Servian  vil- 
lage. Another  prominent  principle  in  Servian  legis- 
lation was  that  of  restitution.  Recompense  for  all 
damage  was  given  the  first  place  in  justice,  while 


ADMINISTRATION   OF   JUSTICE     285 

punishment  by  fine  or  otherwise  was  only  a  second- 
ary consideration. 

The  Zhupa,  the  Grad,  the  village,  the  Zadruga  or 
house  were  each  within  its  boundaries  held  respon- 
sible for  the  acts  there  committed,  and  were  obliged 
to  make  full  and  complete  restitution.  Throughout 
the  entire  territory  of  the  State  the  Sovereign  was  held 
personally  responsible  for  public  order.  If  merchant- 
men (who  were  generally  foreigners)  were  robbed  or 
suffered  loss  by  theft  within  Servian  territory,  the 
Servian  law  made  the  ruler  liable  personally  to  com- 
pensate fully  the  merchants  for  their  losses,  with  the 
ri^ht  held  in  reserve  afterward  to  find  and  punish 
the  evil-doer,  robber,  or  thief. 

In  Doushan's  time  these  principles  of  responsi- 
bility and  restitution  were  transferred  to  the  shoul- 
ders of  officials  and  administrators,  locally,  wherever 
they  might  be  stationed. 

Article  100  related  to  incendiarism;  Article  20  to 
murder;  Article  199  to  the  mutilation  or  malicious 
killing  of  domestic  animals  by  persons  unknown; 
Article  92  says:  "If.  a  horse  is  stolen  and  its  owner 
finds  it  and  recognises  it  as  his  property,  he  shall 
deliver  up  the  thief  to  the  nearest  village,  which 
shall  keep  him  in  custody  to  be  handed  over  to  the 
judge  for  judgment.  The  village  refusing  to 
fulfil  this  duty  must  pay  a  penalty  and  make  good 
any  loss." 

Articles  58,  77,  144,  and  191  all  bear  upon  the  re- 
sponsibilities of  villages  and  individuals  for  crimes 
committed  within  their  precincts.  Article  188  fixes 
the  responsibility  of  villages  in  reference  to  crimes 


286  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

committed  on  neighbouring  waste  or  unowned  lands 
outside  of  their  own  boundaries,  which  regions  the 
law  exacted  of  them  to  police  and  keep  in  order  no 
less  than  their  own  territory,  all  the  near  villages 
being  made  responsible. 

Justice  for  Foreigners 

All  civil  disputes  or  law-suits  between  Servians 
and  foreigners,  and  criminal  cases  between  or  in- 
volving foreigners,  were  judged  before  the  imperial 
courts  with  the  same  procedure  and  privileges  as  if 
all  parties  were  Servians. 

If  the  litigants  were  of  the  same  nationality 
they  had  a  jury  awarded  them  of  their  own  nation, 
or  if  litigants  were  of  mixed  nationality  the  jury 
was  of  the  two  nationalities,  half  and  half.  The 
Ragusans  had  special  privileges  allowing  them  to 
be  judged  according  to  their  own  laws  and  before 
their  own  consuls. 

Was  the  judicial  and  executive  organisation  such 
as  to  obtain  the  effective  observance  of  the  law  and 
principles  laid  down  in  Article  139  ?  All  documen- 
tary evidence  extant,  according  to  historians  and 
special  students  of  that  period,  shows  the  answer  to 
be  in  the  affirmative.  All  evidence  gives  abundant 
proof  that  the  abilities  of  every  subject  of  the  State 
to  ask  for  justice  in  the  public  law  courts,  and  to 
obtain  that  justice  against  even  the  highest  in  the 
land  was  so  great  that  more  could  not  be  desired 
even  to-day. 


THE   ARMY  287 

The  whole  measure  of  protection  of  the  individual 
and  the  rights  of  redress  insured  by  the  laws  and  their 
effective  execution  in  mediaeval  Servia  was  in  favour 
of  the  common  people  and  had  special  solicitude  for 
the  humbler  member  of  society— for  those  who  in 
other  countries  of  the  world  were  at  that  same  epoch 
known  as  "rightless  persons." 

11.    THE    ARMY 

Concerning  the  organisation  of  the  fighting  forces, 
the  only  data  hitherto  available — those  found  in  the 
(Ode  Doushan  and  certain  old  documents — are  not 
sufficient  to  give  complete  information. 

It  is  known  that  instead  of  the  Clans-bands  of 
warriors  of  the  earlier  Servian  period,  the  military 
forces  of  the  twelfth  and  fifteenth  centuries  became 
formulated  into  more  regular  organisation. 

From  the  time  of  Stephan  Xemanya  every  man  pos- 
sessing a  Bashtina  or  landed  freehold  property, 
whether  noble  or  commoner,  came  to  the  army. 
To  bear  arms  in  the  defence  of  the  country  was  an 
honour  and  a  privilege. 

Military  service  was  obligatory  for  every  able- 
bodied  man,  the  church  tenants  only  being  exempt 
(their  work  being  given  to  the  monasteries  who  cared 
for  the  poor  and  the  suffering). 

There  were  two  kinds  of  levies:  first,  the  ordinary 
levy  composed  of  the  nobility,  both  great  and  small, 
who  came  to  the  flag  followed  by  their  own  men, 
their  special  armed  retainers,  and  at  their  own  cost. 
The   second   kind   of   levy   was  the   "Zamanitchka 


288  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

Voyska"  (all  together) — all  nobles  with  their  re- 
tainers and  all  commoners,  that  is,  the  whole  male 
population  liable  to  service. 

Only  in  times  of  grave  national  peril  was  the 
Zamanitchka  Voyska  called.  In  all  ordinary  wars 
or  campaigns  the  Vlastela  and  other  Bashtiniks  with 
their  retainers  made  up  the  army. 

A  document  of  King  Stephan  of  Bosnia,  1458,  to 
the  Logothet  Stepan  Ratkovich,  frees  him  from 
military  service — "unless  myself  goes  to  war,  then  he 
shall  come  with  his  men;  if  a  Zamanitchka  Voyska  is 
called  for,  all  his  villages,  as  do  all  others  in  our  Land, 
shall  join"  (the  levy). 

Article  42  fixes  that  "each  Bashtina  shall  pay  the 
Sotje  tax  and  also  provide  military  service." 

The  working  of  the  Servian  army  organisation  can 
be  seen  in  the  Servian  translations  annexed  to  the 
Zakonik  of  ancient  Roman  and  Byzantine  military 
service  laws  and  field  service  regulations.  Those 
adopted  were  especially  the  military  laws  of  Con- 
stantine  the  Great  and  Justinian. 

One  of  these  runs:  "If  war  has  begun  .  .  .  the 
whole  army,  each  Knez  and  Voyvoda  and  each 
Vlastelin  with  his  men  shall  join  his  Emperor,  there 
where  he  is;  .  .  .  that  Vlastelin  who  does  not  so 
come  shall  be  deprived  of  all  property  which  shall 
(thereafter)  belong  to  the  Emperor." 

Cavalry  was  the  great  arm  of  mediaeval  Europe, 
but  the  Servians,  in  addition  to  cavalry  both  light  and 
heavy,  made  important  use  of  infantry.  These  foot- 
soldiers  were  sebars  recruited  from  the  main  mass  of 
the  population.     They  were  armed  with  the  lance, 


THE   ARMY  289 

a  long-handled  battle-axe,  and  bow  and  arrows  and 
later  the  crossbow. 

Shepherds  and  other  cattle-men  ("Vlachs")  were 
not  employed  as  fighters,  but  served  in  the  army  train, 
called    "komora,"    for   transport   and    provisioning. 

The  Vlastela  were  the  military  leaders.  The  Sov- 
ereign was  supreme  commander  of  all  the  military 
forces.  Should  he  not,  however,  take  the  field  per- 
sonally— all  Servian  rulers  generally  headed  their 
troops  in  person — he  intrusted  the  supreme  com- 
mand to  one  of  the  chief  leaders  with  title  of  "Veliki 
Voyvoda" — High  Military  Chief.  To  him  was  dele- 
gated during  the  campaign  the  Sovereign's  authority 
in  regard  to  the  control  of  all  the  forces. 

Article  129  fixes  the  hierarchy  of  military  command 
in  accordance  with  the  civil  position  of  the  Vlastela 
in  the  State.  The  Servian  military  organisation  was, 
however,  at  no  time  the  same  as  that  of  feudal  West- 
ern Europe. 

The  Sovereign  did  not  possess  the  power  to  decide 
for  war  or  peace.  He  exercised  that  authority  in 
conjunction  with  the  National  Assembly.  As  the 
call  to  arms  of  both  levies  of  the  national  troops  de- 
pended to  so  great  an  extent  on  the  will  of  the  Na- 
tional Assembly,  it  was  the  custom  of  Servian  rulers 
to  engage  a  permanent  fighting  force  under  their  sole 
order,  a  body  of  mercenaries.  Documents  show 
that  these  mercenaries  were  heavy  cavalry  clad  with 
heavy  armour.  They  included  knights  from  Ger- 
many, France,  Italy,  Switzerland,  and  Spain. 

At  the  battle  of  Velbuzhd,  on  July  28, 1330,  between 
the  Servians  commanded  by  King  Stephan  Detchan- 


290  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

ski  and  the  Bulgarians,  which  made  of  Bulgaria  a 
Servian  State  from  that  day  up  to  the  Turkish  con- 
quest, the  number  of  these  mercenary  knights  formed 
a  body  of  one  thousand  five  hundred.  The  papal 
legate,  who  was  sent  from  Rome  to  the  court  of 
Doushan  as  a  special  ambassador,  reported  that  he 
saw  three  hundred  of  this  foreign  knightly  company 
under  the  command  of  a  famous  Germanic  knight 
named  Palman  Bracht. 

At  the  battle  of  Kossovo,  Vouk  Brankovich,  one 
of  the  sons-in-law  of  Tsar  Lazar,  led  a  body  of  Hun- 
garian and  German  mercenary  horsemen.  Accord- 
ing to  popular  tradition,  it  was  the  falling  back  of 
Vouk  Brankovich's  men  that  lost  the  day — and  the 
empire — to  the  Servians.1 

In  regard  to  the  whole  organisation  as  well  as 
equipment  of  heavy  field  pieces  for  throwing  projec- 
tiles, the  army  followed  Byzantine  models. 

The  soldiers  were  equipped  with  either  light  or 
heavy  weapons  and  armour.  The  heavily  armed 
horsemen  were  called  "Oklopnik."  They  wore  a 
closed  and  heavy  helmet  of  steel,  body-armour  back 
and  front,  with  shoulders,  arms,  and  legs  shielded 
with  steel — the  full  suit  of  armour  in  Western  style, 
with  steel  gloves  and  gauntlets.  Their  steeds  were 
also  armoured.  Their  weapons  were  a  heavy  mace 
and  the  German  broadsword  and  lance. 


1  The  story  is  often  repeated  in  Bosnia  that  at  the  time  of  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  occupation  in  1878  an  old  Serb  Moslem  Bey  named  Branko- 
vitch  was  taunted  by  a  Hungarian  officer  of  Hussars,  who  said:  "It  was 
one  of  your  name  who  ran  away  at  Kossovo,  and  gave  the  country  to  the 
Turks!"  "Yes,  yes,  we  know  that  alas,"  said  the  Bey,  "but  remember, 
Major,  the  men  under  him  were  a  contingent  of  Hungarian  mercenaries." 


THE   ARMY  291 

The  light  cavalry  wore  an  open  helmet  with  a  band 
down  the  front  to  protect  only  the  nose,  a  "toya" — a 
kind  of  breast-plate  composed  of  heavy  chain  armour,1 
with  arms  and  legs  protected,  and  steel  gauntlets.  As 
weapons  they  bore  a  curved  sword,  a  light  lance,  and 
a  mace.  Some  bodies  of  light  cavalry  carried  bows 
and  arrows;  their  horses  were  unarmoured. 

The  infantry  wore  light  toyas  and  all  arms  carried 
shields  and  helmet.  The  favourite  arm  of  the  Ser- 
vians was  the  lance.2 

The  first  cannon  used  in  Servia  was  a  small  one 
brought  to  Kossovo  field,  as  is  supposed,  by  King 
Tvrtko  of  Bosnia,  to  whom  it  had  been  given  as  a 
present  from  Italians.  Firearms  came  into  general 
use  during  the  fifteenth  century.  Flags  and  standards 
were  used,  and  trumpets  to  call  to  the  fight. 

During  that  period  it  was  the  usage  among  all 
feudal  armies  of  Europe  for  the  warriors  to  forage 
for  themselves  during  the  campaigns,  which  were 
generally  of  short  duration  or  made  up  of  short  ex- 
peditions. The  same  conditions  prevailed  in  the 
Servian  lands.  During  the  march  through  the  coun- 
try, however,  the  communities  were  by  law  bound 
to  provide  certain  quantities  of  food  and  lodging  for 
man  and  beast  for  which  they  were  indemnified.     In 

1  The  man  on  the  white  horse  in  the  picture  of  the  "Servian  Exodus," 
wears  the  "  Toya  "  armour  and  also  the  old  Servian  helmet.  The  coro- 
nation of  Doushan,  the  frontispiece,  also  shows  the  Servian  mediaeval 
armour  and  accoutrement. 

2  After  the  arrival  of  the  Servians  of  the  Exodus  in  Southern  Hungary, 
their  deeds  of  prowess  with  the  lance  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Prus- 
sian King,  who  enlisted  a  body  of  the  Servian  lancers  in  his  service.  He 
formed  with  them  the  famous  "Bosnian  Corps"  of  lancers  which,  under 
Frederick  the  Great,  became  the  "Prussian  Lancers."  or  "Uhlans." 


292  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

garrison  the  warriors  were  quartered  free,  with  fire 
service  and  fodder  for  the  beast.  When  the  borders 
were  crossed  into  foreign  countries  a  daily  allowance 
("diurnum")  was  made  to  each  warrior  for  his  keep. 
Pillaging,  looting,  or  any  molesting  of  the  in- 
habitants within  the  country  where  troops  were 
quartered  was  stringently  forbidden  and  severely 
punished.  But  pillaging  was  allowed  by  permission 
in  the  enemy's  land. 

12.    RESOURCES,    COMMERCE,    AND    INDUSTRIES 

Agriculture. — The  riches  of  the  country  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  as  to-day,  lay  chiefly  in  agricultural 
products  and  stock-raising.  B.  von  Kallay  said: 
"All  the  evidence  shows  that  in  agriculture  and 
stock-raising  the  Servians  reached  a  very  high  point 
of  excellence.',  They  raised  especially  wheat,  barley, 
oats,  rye,  and  millet,  a  grain  known  to  the  Serbs,  and 
cultivated  by  them  from  remotest  antiquity,  and  in- 
troduced from  Servia  into  Western  Europe  in  the 
second  half  of  the  thirteenth  century. 

The  greatest  extent  of  land  under  cultivation  was 
devoted  to  wheat.  Legislation  concerning  agriculture 
reveals  the  fact  that  there  were  habitually  two  crops, 
and  that  they  knew  "spring  and  autumn  sowing," 
also  that  all  the  Nemanya  rulers  took  deep  interest 
in  furthering  and  especially  protecting  agriculture  and 
agriculturalists.  The  land  and  the  labour  of  the  tiller 
of  the  soil  were  objects  of  solicitude  fully  evidenced 
by  the  laws  safeguarding  the  crops  from  damage  or 
depredations,  and    allowing   the   owner   to   sue  any 


COMMERCE  AND   INDUSTRIES      293 

person  of  whatever  degree  in  the  courts  of  justice  for 
injury  to  his  fields  or  for  oppressive  administration. 

Besides  wheat,  barley,  rye,  and  millet,  flax  and 
hemp  were  much  cultivated.  Silkworm  cultivation 
was  wide-spread,  and  the  silks  woven  as  a  home  indus- 
try were  renowned  and  sold  all  over  Europe  as 
Oriental  silks. 

Grape  culture  and  wine-making  were  of  much  im- 
portance in  Servia.  The  most  famous  of  European 
wines,  the  "flaming  Tokay,"  came  from  vineyards 
planted  by  the  Servian  Despot,  George  Brankovich, 
with  vines  taken  from  Servia,  and  were  owned  by 
the  Servian  Despots  up  to  1526.  The  Tokay  from 
those  same  old  vineyards — considered  the  most  pre- 
cious wine  in  the  world — is  to-day  the  pride  of  the 
Hungarian  Crown  properties. 

The  vlachs  (stock-raisers)  bred  horses,  cattle,  hogs, 
and  sheep. 

Forests. — The  forests,  essentially  in  character  the 
same  as  to-day  though  more  thickly  wooded,  were 
considered  in  general  as  State  property.  There  were 
immense  and  dense  oak  forests  producing  a  heavy 
and  rich  fall  of  acorns.  The  Code  Doushan  pro- 
vides for  "mast-licences."  Where  forests  were  part 
of  private  property,  the  State  still  had  a  right  to  re- 
ceive half  of  the  revenue  from  the  mast-licence. 

Wood  was  much  used  in  early  times  as  building 
material,  and  from  the  great  forests  of  Zeta  (Monte- 
negro), Zahoumlyia  (Herzegovina),  and  Rashka  large 
amounts  of  timber  were  exported  for  ship-building. 
Fires  were  made  of  wood  or  charcoal;  much  wood 
also  went  into  the  timbering  of  the  mines. 


294  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

The  legislative  assembly  of  1349  decreed  laws  pre- 
serving the  forests  and  providing  for  re-afforestation. 

Hunting. — Much  hunting  of  wild  animals  was 
carried  on  for  furs.  Up  to  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  the  Balkans  were  the  centre  of  a 
great  fur-trade,  Ochrida,  a  town  of  mediaeval  Servia, 
being  the  trading-point  for  furs,  sable,  ermine,  fox, 
bear,  etc. 

The  nobility,  or  Vlastelin,  hunted  with  dogs  and 
with  falcons.  Boar,  bear,  and  deer  were  the  chief 
objects  of  the  hunt.  The  commoners  gave  hunts- 
man service  to  the  domain,  especially  in  the  quest  of 
dangerous  or  mischievous  animals  such  as  wolves, 
foxes,  weasels,  martens,  etc.  The  hare — not  the 
rabbit,  but  the  dark-fleshed  game  hare — was  hunted 
by  all  classes.  The  special  duties  of  certain  vassals 
of  the  monasteries  was  hunting  in  order  to  provide 
game  for  the  tables. 

The  many  laws  scattered  through  Servian  legisla- 
tion protecting  land  under  cultivation  and  crops,  and 
the  principle  of  responsibility  and  restitution  of 
recompense  for  any  damage  to  agricultural  property, 
make  it  appear  unlikely  that  huntsmen  were  allowed 
to  pass  across  planted  fields,  as  Serbia  was  never 
feudal.  There  is  no  record  referring  directly 
to  hunts  passing  across  growing  fields — a  privilege 
deriving  from  feudal  rights,  and  still  existing  to-day 
in  some  countries  of  Western  Europe  where  the 
feudal  regime  still  leaves  many  traces. 

Mining. — The  region  of  the  Balkan  Peninsula 
enclosed  within  the  great  Serb-inhabited  block  of 
territory  was  known  even  in  antiquity  for  its  rich 


COMMERCE   AND   INDUSTRIES       295 

deposits  of  gold  and  silver,  the  revenues  from  which 
financed  the  great  wars  of  Philip  of  Macedonia  and 
Alexander  the  Great. 

In  the  Middle  Ages  the  proper  development  of 
mining  in  Servia  in  the  same  regions  began  under 
King  Vladislav  with  the  importation  of  Saxon 
miners.  The  minerals  extracted  were  gold,  silver, 
copper,  lead,  tin,  and  zinc.  Travellers  of  the  four- 
teenth century  report  that  in  Servia  there  were  five 
gold  mines  and  six  silver  mines  being  worked.  The 
mines  and  ores  extracted  from  them  were,  under 
Servian  mediaeval  law,  the  property  of  the  State,  but 
it  was  usual  for  the  State  to  lease  the  exploitation  of 
the  mines  to  private  individuals,  who  were  generally 
Ragusans,  Venetians,  Italians,  or  Saxons.  The  lease 
was  on  terms  of  royalties  or  rental  at  fixed  yearly 
payments.  The  gold  and  silver  mines  of  Novo 
Brdo,  as  evidenced  by  documents,  were  worked  in 
the  fifteenth  century  by  Ragusans,  who  paid  for  them 
to  the  Servian  rulers  two  hundred  thousand  ducats 
rental,  or  about  four  hundred  and  eighty  thousand 
dollars  yearly. 

The  Servian  gold  and  silver  mines  attracted  large 
numbers  of  Venetians  and  Italians,  who  flocked  to  the 
mining  Grads,  which  became  also  the  centre  of  highly 
skilled  art-workers  in  metals  who  made  for  expor- 
tation many  objects  of  art  in  gold,  silver,  and  bronze. 

Commerce  and  Industry. — In  addition  to  agricul- 
tural pursuits  and  cattle-raising,  the  chief  occupa- 
tions of  the  Servian  populations,  commerce  and  the 
mining  industry,  attained  a  certain  importance  be- 
tween the  twelfth  and  the  fifteenth  centuries. 


296  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

Commerce  was  principally  in  the  hands  of  the  Ser- 
vians along  the  Adriatic  littoral,  foremost  among 
whom  were  the  Ragusans.  With  them  competed  the 
Venetians.  Servians,  too,  of  the  interior  engaged  in 
commerce  to  a  lesser  extent. 

Servia's  position  astride  the  land  routes  between 
Europe  and  the  Orient  gave  her  a  large  transit  trade. 
Indian  merchandise  passed  through  Servia. 

The  value  of  this  commerce,  chiefly  in  the  hands 
of  Venetians  and  Ragusans,  was  fully  recognised  by 
the  Servian  kings  and  legislature,  and  is  indicated  by 
their  many  commercial  treaties  with  Ragusa  and 
Venice,  in  the  numerous  privileges  and  advantages 
accorded  by  Servian  law  to  merchantmen  and  their 
caravans,  and  in  the  responsibility  assumed  by  the 
Servian  State  and  rulers  for  any  loss  or  damage 
suffered  by  the  merchants  en  route  or  by  their  goods 
in  transit  through  the  country. 

The  very  considerable  extension  of  commerce 
throughout  Servia  was  due  chiefly  to  the  enterprise 
of  the  Ragusans,  and  to  the  wise  dealings  with  them 
on  the  part  of  the  Servian  State.  The  wisdom  of  the 
Servian  rulers  in  all  that  concerned  the  economic  in- 
terests of  the  country  is  seen  in  these  measures,  and 
in  the  important  privileges  accorded  to  the  Ragusans, 
who,  in  return  for  these  privileges  and  the  perfect 
security  and  protection  which  their  commerce  found 
in  those  lands,  paid  yearly  to  the  Servian  treasury 
five  hundred  golden  ducats  in  addition  to  the  import 
or  customs  duties  on  their  wares. 

All  merchandise  had  to  pass  into  the  country 
through  certain  fixed  posts  or  towns  where  the  customs 


COMMERCE   AND   INDUSTRIES       297 

houses  were,  and  where  the  import  dues  were  levied 
by  the  Tzareniks. 

Servia  sent  into  Italy  and  Byzance  gold  and 
silver  bars,  and  golden  and  silver  objects  of  art 
and  ornaments  of  highly  perfected  workmanship 
wrought  by  Italian  and  Venetian  as  well  as  by 
Servian  goldsmiths.  The  art  of  filigree  then  brought 
to  high  excellence  has  remained  to  the  present 
time  one  of  the  characteristic  arts  of  Servian  jewel- 
makers. 

Servian  exports  also  included  soft  lead  from 
Bosnia  and  hard  (mixed  with  antimony)  from  Se- 
brenitza  and  Podrina;  hides,  live-stock,  woods  (es- 
pecially for  ship-building);  smoked  and  dried  beef, 
hams,  mutton  (smoked),  game,  and  other  meats; 
honey  and  beeswax;  wines,  grain,  wheat,  barley,  and 
rye;  tanned  leather,  resin,  pitch,  charcoal,  flax,  hemp; 
wool  and  silk  (chiefly  to  Italian  weavers  of  silken 
fabrics  and  fine  cloth  makers). 

The  imports  were:  salt  from  Ragusa;  arms 
(cuirasses,  swords,  shields,  and  all  other  armour)  for 
knights  and  warriors  from  Italy,  Spain,  and  Germany; 
velvets,  fine  silken  textures,  and  cloth  of  gold  from 
Italy  and  the  Orient ;  pearls  and  precious  stones,  and 
gold  and  silver  threads  for  embroideries  from  Con- 
stantinople; church  ornaments  and  vestment  stuffs, 
fine  household  furniture,  chiefly  Venetian,  for  the 
nobles;  and  many  articles  of  personal  luxury  and 
dainties  for  the  table.  These  table  dainties  were 
called  "djiakonia"  (student's  food). 

"  Trade-routes." — Merchandise  was  transported  to 
and  from  and  through  the  country  on  pack-horses 


298  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

and  in  wagons,  which  developed  a  good-road  system 
in  all  directions. 

The  main  roads  were: 

(1)  From  Salona  (to-day,  Spalatro),  on  the  Adri- 
atic, across  Dalmatia  and  Bosnia  to  Syrmium  (to-day 
Mitrovitza,  on  the  Save)  and  Belgrade. 

(2)  The  "Via  de  Bosina,"  from  Ragusa  to  Tre- 
bigne,  thence  to  Fotcha  and  Plevlye,  passing  by  the 
monastery  of  Mileshevo,  to  Sienitza,  Trgovishtiye 
(to-day  Novi-Bazar),  and  thence  to  Voutchitrn,  on 
Kossovo  plain. 

(3)  The  road  called  sometimes  "Via  de  Ragusa," 
from  Ragusa  through  Trgovishtiye,  following  the 
valley  of  the  river  Toplitza,  crossing  the  foot-hills 
of  the  Kopaonik  mountains,  passing  Scoplyia  (to-day 
Uskub)  to  Nish,  thence  to  Plovden  (Philippopolis) , 
to  Constantinople.  It  was  a  fifteen  days'  journey  by 
this  road  from  Ragusa  to  Nish,  and  from  there  to 
Constantinople  another  fortnight. 

(4)  The  highway  called  "Via  de  Zenta,"  or  Zeta, 
starting  from  the  mouth  of  the  river  Boyana,  the  port 
of  Skodra  (Scutari,  in  Albania),  along  the  valley  of 
the  Drin  to  Prisren,  thence  to  Lyplyian,  on  Kossovo 
plain,  on  through  Novo-Brdo  to  Vranyia  and  Nish. 

(5)  The  road  from  Belgrade  through  the  valley  of 
the  Morava  River,  and  from  there  across  Vranyia 
and  Scoplyia  (Uskub),  following  the  valley  of  the 
Vardar  to  Salonika.  From  Scoplyia,  a  branch  of 
this  road  leads  over  Kumanovo  and  Velbuzhd 
(to-day,  Kustendil)  to  Philippopolis  and  on  to  Con- 
stantinople. Another  branch  from  Nish  along  the 
valley  of  the  Nisheva  River,  through  Sofia,  Philip- 


COMMERCE   AND   INDUSTRIES       299 

popolis,  to  Constantinople.  This  latter  road  from 
Belgrade  to  Constantinople  was  the  far-famed  road 
of  the  Crusaders,  and  was  called  the  "Via  Egnatia." 

Money. — The  moneys  used  in  the  older  periods  up 
to  the  time  of  Stephan  Nemanya  were  for  the  most 
part  Byzantine  or  Venetian  coin.  Under  King 
Vladislav  in  the  early  thirteenth  century  appeared 
Servian-minted  silver.  Under  King  Miloutin,  Ser- 
vian gold  and  copper  pieces  were  also  minted. 

The  coins  bear  the  image  or  the  crest  of  the  Sove- 
reign, and  the  inscriptions  are  in  Servian  and  in 
Latin.  The  Latin  was  necessary  from  the  nature  of 
the  Servian  commerce  which  was  international. 
Documents  show  that  not  only  Servian  money  but 
also  foreign  coin  was  in  large  circulation.  These  coins 
were  generally  spoken  of  as  Italian  and  Byzantine. 

There  existed  no  coin  called  "perper,"  but  the 
"perper"  as  a  representative  value  was  a  counting 
unit,  equalling  the  price  of  one  "kabal"  of  grain. 

The  monetary  coin  in  silver  was  the  "heavy  dinar," 
and  the  copper  coin  was  the  small  or  "light  dinar." 

The  weight  unit  for  precious  metals  was  the 
"litra,"  a  quantity  of  pure  silver  weighing  about  ten 
and  one-quarter  ounces.  According  to  the  fluctua- 
tions in  the  market  value  of  pure  silver,  the  value  of 
the  "litra"  in  perper s  varied  from  twelve  perpers  in 
the  thirteenth  century  to  twenty-two  perpers  in  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Under  Doushan,  in 
13.50  the  value  of  the  litra  was  sixteen  perpers.  The 
value  of  the  perper  was  about  $1.20. 

In  Venice,  Ragusa,  and  other  Adriatic  coast  towns 
in  Dalmatia  and  Italy  it  is  seen  in  the  commercial 


300  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

transactions  of  the  time  that  a  litra  was  counted  as 
twenty  perpers — and  the  Venetian  gold  piece,  the 
ducat,  was  counted  as  two  perpers.  The  Servian 
gold  piece,  the  "Zlatnik"  was  also  two  perpers. 

At  a  later  period  a  Servian  "big"  silver  piece, 
called  "Untcha,"  was  coined  equivalent  to  a  perper. 
Twelve  "heavy  dinars,"  or  "Srebreniks"  (silver), 
represented  a  perper.  The  Srebrenik  was  divided 
into  two  coins,  "Polutniks"  (from  half — polo  vina") ; 
one polutnik  was  made  into  two  "soldi"  or  "groshe." 

The  soldo  was  the  smallest  silver  coin  and  was 
broken  into  two  copper  pieces  called  little  dinars  or 
paras. 

The  minting  and  coining  of  money  was  the  privi- 
lege solely  of  the  ruler  as  representing  the  State.  A 
licence  was  sometimes  delegated  to  a  provincial  gov- 
ernor in  whose  districts  gold  or  silver  mining  was  car- 
ried on.  There  existed  no  specific  place  known  as 
the  mint,  but  the  coins  were  turned  out  by  gold  and 
silver  smiths  under  Government  appointment.  It 
was  for  that  reason  that  it  was  a  grave  offence  for 
any  gold  or  silver  smith  to  be  found  in  a  village, 
and  was  punishable  by  the  dispersion  of  the  village. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE    SERVIANS    UNDER    TURKISH    RULE 
FROM  ABOUT  1470  TO  ABOUT  1800 

IN  the  year  1413  the  southern  Servian  provinces 
were  unable  longer  to  hold  out  against  the 
Turks.  Servia  in  1459,  Bosnia  in  1463,  and  Herze- 
govina in  1481  were  all  finaJly  conquered  and  became 
Turkish  provinces. 

The  basis  of  Ottoman  power  was  the  sword 
and  the  Ottoman  State  was  and  is  an  organised 
theocracy. 

The  Mohammedan  religion  is  not  a  religion  in  the 
Christian  sense  involving  principally  the  problems  of 
morality,  spiritual  growth,  and  immortality.  Mo- 
hammedanism is  a  state  of  society  founded  on  a 
collection  of  laws  and  legal  principles  dealing  with 
and  ruling  every  event  of  individual  and  public  life. 
The  vast  community  of  believers  in  various  countries 
of  the  world  basing  their  entire  political,  social,  and 
religious  fabric  on  that  collection  of  laws,  and  the 
mystical,  ethical,  and  philosophical  tenets  given  by 
Mahomet  in  the  Koran,  afterward  developed  by  the 
masters  of  the  "Four  schools"  of  Mohammedan 
teaching,  forms  "Islam."1 

1  Hence  the  necessity  in  Turkey  and  all  other  Moslem  countries  for 
every  would-be  reform  or  progressive  act  to  be  Islamized,  which  means 
to  prove  its  basis  in  Islam,  failing  which  it  is  rejected  by  the  true  believer. 

301 


302  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

For  that  reason  where  Islam  is  master  no  other 
civil  status  is  recognised  except  in  tolerance  and  in 
subordination  to  Islam.  There  can  be  no  assimila- 
tion with  people  of  other  creeds  or  civilisation.  The 
perception  of  that  fact  was  vividly  set  forth  in  the 
arguments  of  that  Sultan,  in  the  seventeenth  century, 
who  urged  that  as  Moslem  victor  and  Christian 
vanquished  could  never  make  one  people,  Ottoman 
domination  could  become  secure  only  by  the  universal 
slaughter  of  all  Christians  in  conquered  territories. 
Up  to  our  own  time  that  conclusion  has  haunted 
Stamboul  like  an  evil  dream. 

The  conquered  Christian  populations  were  dis- 
armed and  dispossessed  of  all  property,  and  were 
soon  pressed  into  a  condition  of  serfdom  under  Turk- 
ish masters.  They  were  called  "giours"  and  in  the 
mass  the  "rayah,"  "the  herd."  Whoever  renounced 
his  faith  and  became  a  Mohammedan  was  thereby 
instantly  naturalised  into  Islam,  receiving  the  status 
and  all  the  life-chances  of  a  born  Osmanli.  That 
was  the  sole  means  in  his  power  of  escaping  from 
the  subjected  masses  or  of  opening  a  door  of  oppor- 
tunity. 

The  Servians  in  general  refused  to  accept  that 
door  of  escape  from  durance  vile,  and  remained  true 
to  their  Christian  and  national  faith,  even  through 
the  long  night  of  practical  extinction,  hoping  for  a 
dawn  though  long  deferred. 

Many  of  the  Servian  nobles  and  numbers  of  the 
common  people  fled  to  Serb  lands  under  Venice  or 
those  under  Hungary.  Certain  ones  among  the 
nobles  and  others  became  Moslems,  thereby  preserv- 


TURKISH   RULE,    1470  TO   1800        303 

ing  their  lands  and  castles,  and  authority  was  given 
to  them  under  the  Turks  as  Pashas,  Beys,  Agas,  and 
Spahis.  They  became  ranged,  in  the  eyes  of  the 
general  populations,  on  the  side  of  the  conquerors, 
and  were  looked  upon  by  the  people  as  Turks. 

In  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  where  the  inhabitants 
had  not  only  been  subject  to  Turkish  attack,  but  had 
been  obliged  as  well  to  stand,  ever  beating  back 
Hungarian  invasions,  the  greater  part  of  the  nobles, 
mostly  Bogomils,  went  over  in  a  body  to  Mohamme- 
danism. 

Large  numbers  of  Serbs,  loyal  to  their  faith  and 
home  traditions,  escaped  to  the  mountain  fastnesses 
from  which  they  were  able  to  harass  the  Turks  of 
the  plains  and  so  maintain  a  relative  independence. 

The  Servians  of  the  Rayah  lived  under  great  op- 
pression and  humiliation,  their  only  means  of  pro- 
tection being  through  the  Servian  Patriarch  so  long 
as  one  existed. 

In  case  of  acts  of  injustice  or  violence  suffered  at 
the  hands  of  individual  Turks,  there  was  no  possible 
redress.  The  Christians  were  forbidden  the  use  of 
horses  or  camels,  only  mules  and  asses  being  allowed 
them.  They  were  forbidden  to  ride  even  a  mule  or 
an  ass  in  the  presence  of  a  Turk.  It  was  not  per- 
mitted that  their  houses  should  have  a  better  appear- 
ance than  Turkish  houses.  For  their  faith  they  had 
much  to  suffer.  The  clergy,  few  in  number,  were 
kept  in  miserable  conditions,  and  churches  which 
had  been  destroyed  were  not  allowed  to  be  rebuilt, 
the  building  of  new  churches  being  strictly  forbidden. 
The  sound  of  church  bells  was  forbidden  as  was  also 


304  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

the  reading  aloud  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  or  the  pro- 
nunciation of  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ. 

It  was  not  lawful  to  make  the  sign  of  the  cross,  to 
show  a  cross,  or  to  eat  pork  in  the  sight  of  a  Turk. 

The  Rayah  were  not  allowed  openly  to  bury 
their  dead;  Christian  burials  took  place  at  night 
or  in  secret;  mourning  for  the  dead  was  strictly 
prohibited  either  by  costume  or  by  symbol  or  in  any 
other  way. 

Church  services  were  often  held  in  some  secluded 
spot  in  forest  or  glen,  sometimes  under  a  chosen 
tree  marked  with  a  cross;  or  ordinary  houses 
were  built  as  if  for  a  family,  with  a  central  hearth, 
and  sometimes  with  surrounding  storehouse  and 
stable  to  avoid  suspicion,  and  were  consecrated 
and  used  secretly  as  churches.  Such  houses  still 
exist  in  Macedonia. 

1.    THE    ARMY    OF    CONQUEST 

The  Turkish  army  of  conquest  was  composed  of 
two  main  bodies,  Spahis  and  Janissaries.  The 
Spahis  were  the  feudal  cavalry.  They  were  specially 
created  to  be  settled  on  the  lands  won.  These  two 
branches  of  the  army  had  been  created  by  Ourkhan, 
son  of  Osman,  to  be  the  most  terrific  weapon  of 
Turkish  conquest.  There  existed  also  an  irregular 
army  body  called  Akhindji,  bands  of  horsemen  giv- 
ing military  service  in  return  for  the  right  to  plunder 
and  loot.  They  were  the  terror  of  all  countries 
through  which  they  passed,  burning  and  pillaging 
along  their  road  and  carrying  away  the  inhabitants 


THE   ARMY  OF   CONQUEST  305 

to  be  sold  as  slaves.  In  modern  times  they  are  called 
Bashi-bazouks. 

As  the  countries  were  conquered  the  soil  was  appor- 
tioned out  to  the  Spahis — in  large  feudal  estates  called 
Ziamet  to  the  leaders,  and  in  smaller  ones  called 
Timars  to  other  Spahis. 

A  body  of  nine  hundred  Spahis  formed  a  Sandjak 
or  regiment  under  the  command  of  an  "Alayi  bey." 
By  extension  the  word  Sandjak  designated  the  ad- 
ministrative district  which  furnished  the  regiment. 

The  Janissaries  were  the  main  body  of  the  Turk- 
ish army,  and  were  stationed  in  and  around  the 
Sultan's  headquarters.  Unlike  the  Spahis,  they 
were  not  settled  on  the  soil,  but  were  paid  a  solde, 
and  were  not  allowed  to  hold  or  possess  any  landed 
properties. 

This  invincible  fighting  force  was  formed  of  the 
finest  mettle  in  all  lands  under  Turkish  sway.  Each 
five  or  seven  years  a  special  commission  was  sent  by 
the  Sultan  throughout  the  empire  to  collect  a  human 
tax  called  "devchurme."  All  Christian  boys  from 
five  to  seven  years  of  age  found  perfect  of  form  and 
build  were  forcibly  severed  from  their  parents  and 
brought  to  Constantinople,  there  to  be  trained  up  as 
Moslem  Turks  and  Janissaries. 

As  the  chief  part  of  the  Christian  populations  of 
Moslem  dominions  were  Serbs,  the  Janissaries  by 
the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  were,  for  the  most 
part,  of  Servian  blood. 

Parents,  in  order  to  keep  their  children  back  from 
the  "devchurme,"  often  maimed  or  crippled  them, 
or  branded  them  with  a  cross  on  the  forehead  so  that 


306  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

whatever  befell,  they  themselves  would  know  that 
they  had  been  carried  away  from  Christian  homes.1 

The  Janissaries  were  trained  and  held  under  the 
severest  discipline,  and  separated  as  a  military  order 
from  ordinary  life;  they  were  not  allowed  to  marry, 
and  were  considered  the  slaves  of  the  Sultan,  by 
whom  they  were  clothed  and  fed. 

Their  insignia  were  the  copper  kettles  2  in  which 
the  "Sultan's  soup"  was  made.  These  kettles  were 
carried  like  standards  before  the  Janissary  troops. 

The  Janissaries  were  imbued  with  the  sense  of 
haughty  pride  in  their  bold  prowess  and  relentless 
performance  of  their  soldiers'  duty,  "striking  steel 
through  heart  and  soul  if  need  be."  At  the  time  of 
their  formation  the  Sheikh  Bectashi,  whose  successors 
are  the  Sheikhs  of  Konia,  and  invest  the  Sultan, 
spoke3  to  the  new  troops  and  said:  "You  shall  be 
called  Yeni  Cheri;  your  faces  shall  always  be  white 
and  shining.  You  shall  never  leave  a  battle-field 
except  as  victors!"  In  the  course  of  time,  at  the  end 
of  centuries,  this  flaming  weapon  became  a  sword  of 
double  edge,  and  by  strange  fate  cut  the  hands  that 
held  it  and  was  the  means  involved  by  destiny  in 
the  freeing  of  the  subjugated  lands. 

1  The  greatest  of  all  Turkish  Grand  Vizirs,  Mehemet  Sokolovich,  and 
six  other  Grand  Vizirs  were  Serbs,  all  of  whom  as  children  had  been  car- 
ried away  as  "devchurme"  to  Constantinople. 

2  These  kettles,  each  being  covered  with  a  skin,  were  also  used  as  drums. 
In  time  of  complaint  or  discontent  the  kettles  were  turned  upside  down 
as  a  signal  of  refusal  to  drink  the  "  Sultan's  soup." 

3  In  speaking,  Sheikh  Bectashi  rested  his  hand  upon  the  head  of  one  of 
the  Janissaries  and  his  white  sleeve  fell  over  the  hair.  From  that  time, 
in  remembrance  of  this  incident,  the  Janissaries  adopted  as  headgear  a 
white  felt  piece  like  a  sleeve  which  formed  a  high  cap  for  the  skull  and, 
bending,  drooped  down  behind. 


TURKISH  ADMINISTRATION         307 


2.    METHODS   OF   ADMINISTRATION 

After  the  fall  of  Constantinople,  in  1453,  the 
Sultan  Mohammed  II,  1451-81,  was  able  to  bring 
the  Serb  lands  one  by  one  under  his  direct  rule,  and 
at  the  moment  of  his  death  the  Ottoman  Empire 
comprised  thirty-six  Sandjaks  or  Sandjak-beyliks, 
which  were  territories  settled  by  a  Sandjak  (regi- 
ment) of  Spahis,  whose  commanders  or  Beys  were 
also  their  administrators.  A  group  of  several  Sand- 
jaks formed  a  Beylerbeylik,  under  the  command  and 
administration  of  their  superior  officer  the  Beylerbey. 

The  Spahi-luks,  the  Sandjak-beyliks,  and  the  Bey- 
lerbeyliks  by  the  time  of  Sultan  Suleyman,  1520-66, 
had  become  hereditary,  and  were  a  powerful  privi- 
leged and  dominating  class,  ruling  as  feudal  lords 
the  Christian  Rayah,  who  were  in  the  position  of 
serfs. 

It  was  only  after  the  zenith  of  the  Ottoman  con- 
quest was  reached,  with  the  victory  over  Hungary 
and  the  Servian  Despotat  at  the  battle  of  Mohacs  in 
1526,  that  Suleyman  the  Magnificent  and  his  Grand 
Vizir,  Mehemet  Sokolovich,  made  laws  regulating 
the  land  tenures  and  fixing  the  rentals,  taxes,  and 
other  services  of  the  Christian  Rayah  toward  the 
Spahis. 

The  Empire  was  reorganised  by  Mehemet  Sokolo- 
vich into  two  hundred  and  fifty-one  Sandjaks  and 
into  twenty-one  provinces  or  Beylerbeyliks.  The 
governor  of  each  of  these  provinces  was  invested  with 
the  title  of  Vizir.     In  the  Turkish  Empire  in  Europe 


308  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

there  were  four  of  these  provinces:  Roumili,  the 
largest,  comprising  all  the  Balkan  Peninsula  south  of 
the  Danube;  the  second  was  western  Hungary, 
"Province  of  Buda";  the  third  was  eastern  Hungary, 
"Province  of  Temes."  etc. 

The  succeeding  Sultans  were  unable  to  maintain 
the  Empire  at  the  height  to  which  it  had  been  raised, 
being  given  up  entirely  to  sensuous  pleasures  and 
becoming  debauched  and  weak.  Their  reigns  began 
a  period  of  anarchy  in  Turkish  administration  com- 
parable to  the  worst  days  of  Byzance.  The  State 
was  controlled  by  intrigues  of  women  and  eunuchs 
of  the  harems,  and  of  greedy  Vizirs  and  a  gluttonous 
bureaucracy,  all  like  vampires  sucking  the  life  forces 
of  the  Christian  Rayah. 

There  exist  many  "impressions"  of  travellers 
written  by  Western  ambassadors  of  those  times  to 
the  Turkish  Court.  Mouradja  d'Ohson,  himself  a 
Levantine,  writing  in  1780,  gives  one  of  the  most 
striking  pictures  of  conditions  in  the  Turkish  Empire 
as  they  were  found  in  the  eighteenth  century.  The 
matter  in  his  book  has  been  completed  in  detail  by 
writings  of  Christian  Servians  who  lived  under  con- 
ditions described  by  him:  Nenadovich  in  his  me- 
moirs, Vouk  Stephanovich  Karadjich,  and  Vidako- 
vich  in  his  autobiography,  all  of  whom  were  among 
the  leaders  of  the  Servian  revolution. 

Mouradja  d'Ohson  gives  an  account  of  the 
division  of  the  Empire  into  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
three  departments  called  Livas.  Several  Livas 
formed  a  Vilayet  or  province;  there  were  twenty-six 
such  Vilayets. 


TURKISH  ADMINISTRATION         309 

Turkey  in  Europe  was  made  up  of  the  Vilayet  of 
Roumili,  the  Vilayet  of  Bosnia,  and  that  of  Silistria 
and  of  Djezaer  (Greece). 

Each  Liva  was  subdivided  into  casas  (Kazas), 
communal  districts,  consisting  of  either  a  town  and 
its  dependencies  or  of  a  rural  canton  called  Nahia, 
each  with  its  own  municipal  jurisdiction. 

At  the  head  of  each  Vilayet  was  the  Pasha  "of 
three  horse-tails,"  with  rank  of  Vizir.  He  had  the 
general  supervision  of  the  whole  Vilayet,  and  also 
one  or  more  Livas  under  his  direct  personal  admin- 
istration. The  other  Livas  in  the  Vilayet  were  gov- 
erned by  a  Pasha  of  two  horse-tails'  rank.1  It  was 
during  that  time  that  the  term  Pashalik  came  into 
general  use. 

It  was  the  Turkish  system  frequently  to  change  the 
Pashas.  They  were  never  allowed  to  remain  in 
their  Livas  long  enough  to  accumulate  any  individual 
power.  This  continual  change  opened  the  door  to  a 
vast  merchandise  in  offices.  The  large  amount  of 
"bakshish"  which  a  Pasha  was  compelled  to  dis- 
pense at  the  successive  gates  leading  to  the  final  at- 
tainment of  the  coveted  post,  or  in  order  to  keep  such 
a  post  for  any  length  of  time,  had  to  be  "recouped" 

1  The  honorary  title  "Pasha,"  a  Persian  term  meaning  "the  foot  of  the 
Shah,"  was  conferred  by  the  Turkish  sultans  upon  the  superior  military 
leaders  or  high  officials.  The  highest  Pasha  was  the  Pasha  of  three  horse- 
tails, so  designated  from  his  right  to  be  preceded  by  a  standard  staff  bear- 
ing a  globe  from  which  floated  the  number  of  "horse-tails"  to  which  his 
rank  entitled  him.  The  administrative  heads  of  the  Turkish  provinces 
were  generally  invested  with  the  title  of  Pasha.  The  provinces  or  ad- 
ministrative divisions  came  by  usage  to  be  popularly  denominated  "Pa- 
shalik." The  Pasha  in  his  administration  of  his  Liva  was  aided  by  two  or 
three  men  elected  from  the  moslems  of  his  Pashalik,  called  "Ayans" 
(notables) . 


310  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

somehow,  and  it  was  the  province  that  paid  through 
exactions  of  various  kinds,  levied  by  the  Pashas, 
who,  once  installed,  were  responsible  to  no  one, 
and  had  free  range  of  the  Pashalik  during  the 
limited  period  of  their  sway.  These  governors  held 
over  the  population,  both  Christian  and  Turks, 
power  of  life  and  death  and  absolute  power  regard- 
ing property. 

All  that  was  asked  of  them  at  Stamboul  was  that 
they  should  send  enough  tax  money  to  the  imperial 
treasury  and  that  the  province  should  give  no  trouble 
to  the  Sublime  Porte. 

The  Pasha  resided  in  the  chief  town  of  the  Pashalik, 
which  he  rarely  left  from  the  time  of  his  arrival  up  to 
his  departure.  He  administered  the  province  through 
agents  whom  he  appointed.  The  Pasha  was  the 
chief  military  commander  of  the  Pashalik.  Pasha 
Beys  and  Spahis  resided  in  the  towns  at  the  seat  of 
government. 

Each  Pashalik  (Liva)  was  subdivided  into  Nahias 
in  which  the  Turkish  officials  concerned  themselves 
especially  with  the  administration  of  justice. 

In  the  medjliss,  or  law  courts,  judgments  were 
pronounced  in  the  name  of  the  Sultan,  but  on  the 
basis  of  Islamic  law  and  regulation.  Serbs  had  no 
legal  rights  and  were  unable  to  obtain  justice  before 
the  law  against  Moslems. 

Dwelling  in  the  towns  were  the  judges  of  higher 
rank  called  Mollahs  and  Muftis.  At  the  head  of 
each  Nahia  district  was  a  Kadi.  The  Kadi  was 
aided  in  the  execution  of  his  judgments  by  an  im- 
portant person  called   the  Musselim,   who  was  the 


TURKISH  ADMINISTRATION         311 

sheriff  and  chief  of  police  for  the  Nahia,  representing 
the  authority  of  the  Pasha. 

Neither  Kadi  nor  Musselim  received  a  salary, 
their  payment  consisting  of  the  fines,  costs  of  litiga- 
tions, and  bribes,  all  of  which  were  fixed  arbitrarily 
by  themselves.  The  Kadis  and  Mollas  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  Sublime  Porte  at  Stamboul. 

Turkish  justice  at  that  time  knew  no  other  penalty 
than  money  fines,  with  the  exception  of  all  cases 
which  could  be  accounted  "political  offences,"  such 
as  disobedience  of  a  Christian  regarding  the  orders 
of  a  Turk,  punishable  with  death,  etc.  The  money 
fines  were  not  imposed  upon  the  accused  individual, 
but  were  exacted  from  the  House,  family,  or  com- 
munity to  which  the  individual  belonged— a  grim 
and  distorted  application  of  the  old  Servian  legal 
principle  of  responsibility  and  restitution.  As  an 
example  of  this,  in  the  "Danitza,"  pp.  82-85,  Vouk 
Stephanovich  Karadjich  recounts:  "If  a  dead  body 
were  found  in  a  district,  whether  the  resu^  of  murder, 
accident,  or  natural  death  while  travelling,  all  the 
surrounding  villages  had  to  pay  the  "blood-tax," 
which  was  one  thousand  piasters.  The  Turkish 
authorities  made  no  attempt  to  apprehend  the  assas- 
sin, did  not  even  inquire  whether  or  no  death  was  due 
to  a  murder.  The  assassin  had  only  to  live  in  retire- 
ment until  the  tax  was  paid ;  he  could  then  take  his 
accustomed  place,  not  being  regarded,  in  fact,  by  the 
Turkish  authorities  as  a  wholly  unuseful  member  of 
society. 

The    Kadis    coming    from    Constantinople    were 
rarely  acquainted  with  the  language  of  the  people, 


312  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

and  therefore  even  with  the  best  intentions  were  not 
able  to  dispense  real  justice.  The  Musselim  (chief 
of  police,  sheriff,  etc.)  was  a  Turkish  official  nomi- 
nated by  the  Pasha,  and  was  generally  well  versed  in 
the  people's  tongue.  He  was  the  terror  of  the  dis- 
trict. A  person  cited  before  the  Kadi  who  failed  to 
appear,  even  for  the  smallest  offence,  had  nothing 
left  for  him  but  flight,  for  if  he  were  caught  his  life 
was  forfeited.  The  oppression  of  the  Kadis  and 
Musselims  became  at  times  so  heavy  that  the  popula- 
tion diminished  through  flight  or  threatened  emigra- 
tion en  masse.  Only  when  that  state  of  things  was 
reached  did  the  Turkish  authorities  remove  a  Kadi, 
and  the  distraught  population,  in  a  momentary  hope 
of  betterment,  paused  before  taking  the  road  into 
the  unknown.  Nenadovich,1  in  his  "Memoari, " 
tells  that  in  his  "nahia"  of  Valyevo,  during  a 
very  short  period  of  time,  eighteen  of  those  Kadis 
were  successively  withdrawn  in  order  to  arrest  the 
emigration  of  the  people. 

Remains  of  Servian  Self-government 

Entirely  subordinated  to  this  Turkish  govern- 
mental system,  there  was  allowed  to  exist  a  purely 
Servian  administration,  the  remains  of  the  old  Ser- 
vian organisation,  the  self-governing  village  and 
Zhupa.  The  Turks,  on  coming  in,  completely  de- 
stroyed the  higher  circles  of  administration,  but  re- 
tained the  lower  formations,  imposing  themselves  and 
their  system,  however,  upon  the  lower  Servian  strata. 

1  Nenadovich  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  insurrections  of  1804-15. 


TURKISH  ADMINISTRATION         313 

They  were  quick  to  see  the  value  of  local  institutions 
which,  being  shorn  of  all  authority,  could  be  made 
the  instruments  of  control  over  a  race  which,  even  in 
slavery,  never  called  itself  conquered. 

Every  village  under  Turkish  rule  continued  to 
elect  its  own  chief  men  and  judges,  who  in  all  matters 
between  Serb  and  Serb  judged  after  the  old  Servian 
laws.  These  judges,  however,  possessed  no  execu- 
tive power — which  was  vested  solely  in  Turkish 
hands— and  the  Servian  judge's  decision  could  only 
hold  good  in  case  both  parties  were  completely  satis- 
fied. Otherwise  the  case  was  taken  before  the  Kadi, 
a  privilege  of  which  the  Servians  were  chary  to  take 
advantage. 

The  village  chief,  Seoski-Knez,  acted  as  a  mediator 
between  the  people  and  the  Turkish  authorities. 

Karadjich  and  Nenadovich  tell  that  when  a  Serb 
was  arrested  for  an  offence  against  Turks,  or  clashed 
with  the  Turkish  authorities,  the  village  headman 
at  once  went  to  intercede  or  negotiate  with  the  Kadi, 
and  was  often  able,  by  payment  or  otherwise,  to  have 
the  man  set  free. 

Holding  the  same  position  in  regard  to  the  districts 
of  the  nahias  which  the  village  headmen,  or  Seoski- 
Knez,  held  in  villages  were  the  heads  of  districts, 
called  then  also  "zhoupas,  or  Knezhinas"  whose 
title  was  "Obor-Knez."  They  were  elected  by  the 
people  and  nominated  by  the  Pasha.  They  pos- 
sessed no  land,  and  their  only  function  was  to  keep 
order  in  the  districts.  They  were  responsible  to  the 
Turkish  Pasha,  who  allowed  them  a  small  detachment 
of   "Pandours"    (armed    police).     The    Obor-Knez 


314  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

acted  as  spokesman  for  the  inhabitants  in  their 
relations  with  the  Pasha,  and  apportioned  among 
the  rayah  of  a  district  its  allotment  of  taxes.  An 
Obor-Knez  of  wit  and  devotion  to  his  people  was 
able  to  obtain  much  mitigation  of  the  burdens 
laid  upon  them.  During  the  great  insurrections 
of  the  early  nineteenth  century  the  Obor-Knezes 
were  generally  the  leaders. 

3.     TURKISH  FORMS   OF  HOLDINGS    IN  APPROPRIATION 
OF  SERVIAN  LANDS 

According  to  the  rules  laid  down  in  Islam  for  the 
settlement  of  conquered  lands,  the  Serb  lands  as 
they  were  acquired  were  separated  into  three  main 
divisions:  First — Vakouf — Church  Property — the 
landed  and  other  estates  of  the  "pious  foundations," 
the  income  from  which  was  devoted  to  the  building 
of  mosques,  to  their  charities,  and  to  other  Moslem 
religious  and  educational  purposes.  Those  funds 
formed  the  "  Beit-ul-mal "  and  were  under  a  separate 
department  of  administration.  Second — Allodial 
lands,  subdivided  into  lands  of  Islam  which  paid  only 
tithes  to  the  Sultan,  and  Kharatch  or  tribute-lands, 
paying  kharatch  tax  and  an  impost  varying  from  one- 
eighth  to  one-half  of  all  its  proceeds.  The  allodial 
lands  in  conquered  Serb  territory  fell  under  the  cate- 
gory of  Haratch  land,  and  was  bestowed  by  the 
Sultans  upon  different  individuals  in  the  form  of 
"moukade"  and  "malitchane"  estates.  Third — 
The  largest  bulk  of  conquered  territories  was  reserved 
as  domanial  lands,  and  was  separated  into: 


TAXES   AND   OTHER   EXACTIONS    315 

(1)  Miri  land,  the  revenues  of  which  went  directly 
into  the  State  treasury. 

(2)  Waste  lands,  not  cultivated,  always  large 
areas  in  Turkey. 

(3)  Private  domains  of  the  Sultan. 

(4)  Escheat,  or  forfeited  lands. 

(5)  Lands  which  were  appanages  of  the  Sultan's 
mother  and  the  other  members  of  his  family. 

(6)  Lands  of  which  the  revenues  were  attached  to 
the  office  of  Vizir. 

(7)  Land  the  revenues  of  which  were  attached  to 
the  offices  of  Pashas  of  the  second  rank. 

(8)  The  vast  areas  of  Ziamets  and  Timars,  all 
spahiluks. 

The  Timar  was  an  estate  of  from  three  hundred  to 
five  hundred  acres,  and  the  Ziamet  an  estate  of  over 
five  hundred  acres,  both  furnishing  one  man  at  arms 
for  each  three  thousand  aspers  revenue.  In  the  earlier 
period  there  existed  the  higher  fiefs  or  Beyliks. 

4.  TAXES  AND  OTHER  EXACTIONS 

The  Spahis,  on  receiving  from  the  Sultan  the  land  of 
the  conquered  Serbs,  entered  into  relationship  with 
the  inhabitants  at  first  as  landlord  with  tenant,  but 
under  a  feudal  system  instead  of  under  that  belonging 
to  the  old  Servian  organisation. 

The  tenants,  instead  of  giving,  as  under  Servian 
laws,  a  few  days  a  year  robot-work  in  total  payment 
to  the  over-lord  for  their  holdings,  paid  under  the 
Turkish  regime  money  under  various  heads:  rental, 
taxes,  and  other  money  dues  in  addition  to  one-tenth 


316  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

at  least  "in  kind"  of  their  produce.  The  Spahis, 
unlike  the  Servian  lord  of  a  domain,  did  not  live  on 
their  estates  among  the  rural  inhabitants,  but  in  the 
towns  or  fortified  villages.  So  long  as  all  money  ex- 
actions were  met,  the  rayah,  who  sank  to  a  state  of 
serfdom  under  this  system,  was  free  to  come  and  go 
as  he  would.  In  the  earlier  period  of  Turkish  times 
he  might  sell  or  otherwise  dispose  of  his  tenure  or 
move  from  one  Spahiluk  to  another;  he  had  only  to 
see  to  it  that  prior  to  his  departure  all  the  necessary 
moneys  and  levies  in  kind  due  to  the  Spahi  were  paid 
for  the  year.  The  Spahis  were  free  from  all  taxation. 
They  were  lords  not  only  of  the  soil,  but  of  the  rayah 
— the  Christians  living  on  it.  Holding  the  land  in 
fief  from  the  Sultan  in  return  for  military  service, 
they  formed  a  privileged  class  in  regard  to  Christian 
and  Turk. 

Their  relations  with  the  populations  were  limited 
to  their  arrival  during  harvest  time  in  the  villages  of 
their  estates  to  collect  the  various  taxes  and  tithes. 
Instead  of  this  personal  tour  they  sometimes  sent 
agents.  The  Spahis  in  Bosnia-Herzegovina,  called 
Beys,  were,  as  has  been  seen,  the  old  Servian-Bosnian 
nobility,  who  at  the  time  of  the  conquest,  rather  than 
become  Hungarian,  had  gone  over  to  Mohammedan- 
ism, acknowledging  the  Sultan's  rule.  The  Servians 
of  other  Serb  lands,  more  removed  from  the  danger 
of  Hungarian  occupation,  had  with  but  few  excep- 
tions refused  to  renounce  their  Christian  creed,  and 
were  not  made  Spahis  by  the  Sultan,  but  either 
emigrated  or  fell  into  the  common  mass  of  the  de- 
spoiled   rayah.     Over    these    were    sometimes    set 


TAXES   AND   OTHER  EXACTIONS    317 

Spahis  of  Bosnian  or  Herzegovinian  origin  from  the 
lesser  and  poorer  Serb  nobility  of  those  western 
countries. 

In  the  towns  and  palankas  the  Spahis — all  Moslem, 
whether  Osmanli  or  Serb — detachments  of  Janis- 
saries, and  the  Turkish  officials,  all  living  in  idleness 
on  the  fruits  of  the  Servian  agriculturalist's  toil,  were 
surrounded  by  a  hungry  Turkish  mob  of  hangers-on, 
which  assembled  there  from  all  Ottoman  countries. 
Only  a  few  of  those  Turks  lived  by  certain  handi- 
crafts permitted  to  them  alone  and  forbidden  to 
Christians. 

This  separation  of  the  inhabitants  into  two  divi- 
sions, Moslems  in  the  towns  and  Christians  in  the 
country,  was  the  beginning  of  the  idea  in  Serb  lands 
of  towns  as  places  of  residence.  It  is  also  the  cause  of 
the  Asiatic  character,  maintained  even  to-day  in 
Balkan  regions  in  the  appearance  of  towns  that  have 
not  been  rebuilt.  The  Serb  villages,  which  then 
began  to  hide  themselves  away  from  the  general  view 
in  ravines  and  secluded  mountain  valleys,  have  the 
aspect  of  western  hamlets. 

During  the  active  period  of  conquest  under  the 
powerful  Sultans,  Mohammed  II,  Selim,  and  Sule.y- 
man,  the  whole  Serb  territory  was  held  in  a  state  of 
military  occupation,  the  obligations  of  the  subjected 
peoples  to  their  Turkish  masters  being  ill-defined. 

The  khanouns  of  Suleyman,  inaugurated  by  his 
Grand  Vizir  the  Servian  Mehemet  Sokolovich,  re- 
organising land  holdings,  and  the  obligations  of  the 
Christian  rayah,  limited  and  defined  the  rentals, 
taxes,   and  all  services  and  dues  payable  to  these 


318  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

Turkish  feudal  lords.  According  to  these  laws  the 
holdings  of  the  Spahis  were  not  real  possession,  but 
only  a  stipend;  they  did  not  have  dwellings  on  the 
estates,  but  lived  in  the  garrison  towns.  They  could 
not  forcibly  eject  the  tenants  or  prevent  them  from 
moving  away  to  settle  elsewhere.  After  the  death  of 
the  Serb  Vizir  who  framed  these  regulations  they 
fell  into  disuse.  The  Spahiluks  again  became  heredi- 
tary by  custom,  and  the  people  were  not  able  to  limit 
their  obligations.  However,  the  principle  had  been 
partially  developed  that  it  was  necessary  for  the 
Moslem  feudal  lord  to  be  on  good  terms  with  his 
tenants,  and  their  interests  being  in  some  particulars 
identical  with  his  own,  the  Spahis  often  took  sides 
with  the  people  as  against  the  over-exactions  of 
Pashas  and  others  who  collected  taxes  from  them. 

The  tax  revenues  of  the  Spahi,  paid  to  him  by  the 
Christian  under  the  Khanouns  of  Suleyman,  were: 

(1)  The  poll-tax:  one  piaster  for  each  married 
person. 

(2)  "Espendje,"  or  permission  from  the  Spahi  to 
marry:  two  piasters. 

(3)  The  tax  called  "kotar" — hedge-tax:  two  pi- 
asters for  the  right  of  herds  to  feed  within  hedged 
pastures. 

(4)  The  mill-tax,  for  the  right  to  grind  grain :  one 
piaster  per  head. 

(5)  The  kettle-tax,  per  pot-still:  two  piasters  for 
the  distillation  of  plum-brandy. 

(6)  The  oak-mast-tax:  four  paras  per  hog  where 
there  were  no  acorns,  and  six  to  ten  paras  where 
acorns  were  plentiful. 


TAXES   AND   OTHER  EXACTIONS    319 

(7)  "Dessetak,"  or  tax  in  kind:  one-tenth  or  more 
of  all  agricultural  produce. 

Should  the  Spahi  dwell  near  his  Spahiluk,  he  re- 
quired from  the  inhabitants,  in  addition  to  these 
taxes,  manual  labour  and  personal  service. 

In  some  instances  the  Serb  communities  were  able 
to  make  an  arrangement  with  the  Spahis  to  pay  a 
yearly  fixed  sum  in  lieu  of  all  other  taxes  and  dues. 
An  exceptional  tax  was  levied  as  hospitality  rights 
to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  yearly  visit  of  the  Spahi  or 
his  agent  for  the  collection  of  the  taxes.  Each  priest 
had  to  pay  to  his  Spahi  two  or  two  and  a  half  piasters 
a  year  and  present  him  with  a  pair  of  stockings.  The 
monastery  paid  yearly  to  the  Spahi  from  ten  to 
twelve  piasters,  and  the  village  attached  to  a  monas- 
tery paid  him  from  two  to  two  and  a  half  piasters 
per  inhabitant. 

As  no  taxes  were  paid  by  Moslems,  they  being 
soldiers  in  war  time  and  in  time  of  peace  "guardians 
of  the  Faith ' '  and  order,  the  whole  weight  of  supply- 
ing the  revenue,  not  only  to  Pashas,  Beys,  and  Spahis, 
but  also  for  all  State  expenses,  fell  upon  the  Christian 
ray ah. 

In  addition  to  the  taxes  and  dues  to  the  Spahis  and 
Pashas,  the  conquered  Servian  population  had  to  bear 
the  burdens  of  provisioning  the  Turkish  army,  of  the 
transport  of  cannon  and  all  other  war  munitions,  of 
personal  manual  labour  on  the  construction  and  re- 
pair of  roads  and  fortresses,  and  of  agricultural 
labour  on  the  Sultan's  personal  domains  and  on  those 
of  the  pious  foundations.  These  services,  called  the 
"Koulouk"  tax,  which  was  imposed  in  addition  to  the 


320  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

work  given  to  the  Spahis,  required  also  that  the  people 
should  bear  all  incidental  expenses,  even  when  the 
duty  necessitated  journeys  to  regions  far  remote  from 
the  places  where  they  lived.  As  an  instance  of  this, 
the  inhabitants  around  Belgrade  were  obliged  to  go 
to  Constantinople  to  cut  hay  and  perform  other 
"Koulouk"  labour  on  the  Sultan's  lands.  The  small 
village  of  Belgrad  on  the  outskirts  of  Constantinople 
was  founded  by  those  workers  in  remembrance  of 
their  distant  home  district. 

Among  the  other  taxes  which  the  Christian  rayah 
had  to  pay  to  the  Sultan,  the  State,  and  the  province 
were : 

(1)  The  "Kharadje,"  for  the  right  to  walk  on 
the  Sultan's  soil,  was  a  poll-tax  levied  on  every 
male  from  the  seventh  year  of  his  age  to  his  death. 
The  Kharadje  was  estimated  by  the  Defterdars 
(financial  agents)  of  the  Sultan,  and  varied  accord- 
ing to  region  and  circumstance.  It  was  collected 
by  the  Christian  headman  of  the  village  and  turned 
over  to  the  Spahi  or  to  Turkish  officials  called 
"Oumen." 

(2)  The  Glavnitza  (chief  tax)  paid  by  all  men 
come  to  manhood,  was  used  in  provincial  adminis- 
tration, and  was  calculated  according  to  the  capacity 
of  the  people  to  pay.1 

(3)  The  Tchibouk,  a  tax  on  live  stock  of  every 
kind  and  on  fowls. 

(4)  A  yearly  "espendje,"  a  tax  for  the  Sultan  in 
addition  to  that  paid  to  the  Spahi,  was  a  golden 
ducat  collected  from  every  married  couple. 

1  Gavrilovitch,  Spomenik,  III,  p.  177. 


TAXES   AND    OTHER   EXACTIONS    321 

In  addition  to  the  yield  of  these  taxes  the  Sultan 
derived  other  income  from  the  provinces.  The 
revenues  from  customs,  tolls,  fishing,  and  other 
licences  were  supposed  to  go  to  Constantinople, 
but  for  the  most  part  paused  in  the  treasury  of 
the  Pasha. 

The  Servian  writers  of  the  period,  Prota  M. 
Nenadovitch  and  others,  give  a  picture  of  the  Obor- 
Knez  and  the  village  knez  coming  to  the  chief  town 
of  the  Nahia,  each  bringing  his  bill  of  expenses  for 
the  past  year,  covering  the  cost  of  receptions  to  the 
Pasha  and  his  agents,  public  works,  payment  of 
pandours,  etc.  These  accounts  were  audited  by  old 
agas  and,  when  approved,  received  the  seal  of  the 
Kadi.  When  the  acccounts  of  all  the  Nahias  in  the 
province  were  confirmed,  they  were  submitted  to 
the  Pasha,  who  added  to  them  what  he  demanded 
for  his  own  expenses.  The  sum-total  to  be  col- 
lected was  then  divided  among  the  whole  number 
of  taxable  heads.  A  statement  of  that  number 
was  required  from  the  head  of  each  village,  who, 
by  every  imaginable  means,  sought  to  save  the 
people  as  much  as  possible  from  the  weight  of 
over-exaction.  This  system  developing  ruse  and 
trickery,  and  attacking  directly  the  moral  forces  of 
the  race,  was  one  of  the  miseries  of  the  Turkish 
oppression. 

When  the  total  amount  of  yearly  taxes  to  be  col- 
lected was  fixed  by  the  Pashas  and  the  obligation 
divided  among  the  Nahias,  it  was  customary  for  the 
Servian  headmen  of  all  the  villages  of  each  Nahia  to 
meet  together  on  an  appointed  day  with  two  or  three 


322  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

men  of  each  village  to  hear  the  reading  by  the  Kadi 
of  the  amount  of  taxes  exacted,  and  afterward  to 
discuss  and  fix  between  themselves  the  equitable 
distribution  of  the  burden  among  the  villages.  So 
in  turn  the  headman  of  each  village,  in  the  presence 
of  the  people,  apportioned  the  tax  according  to  the 
capacity  of  individuals  to  pay.  All  the  poor  and  ill 
and  crippled  presented  themselves  among  the  others 
to  be  examined  as  to  their  ability  to  bear  their  part 
of  the  tax,  and  to  be  declared  exempt  in  case  they 
were  found  unable  to  pay. 

The  most  fiery  trial  which  the  conquered  Servians 
had  to  live  through  was  helpless  submission  to  the 
"Devchurme"  tax. 

From  all  the  young  children — flower  of  the  Serb 
race — gathered  by  this  fearful  tax  to  Constantinople, 
the  finest  creatures  were  selected  and  especially 
trained  to  enter  the  Sultan's  direct  service.  From 
among  them  were  recruited  the  Turkish  dignitaries, 
the  Spahis  and  Pashas,  but  the  greater  part  were 
made  into  Janissaries.  By  the  middle  of  the  six- 
teenth century  the  heart  of  the  Turkish  army  was 
composed  of  Janissaries  of  Serb  blood,  their  swords 
turned  against  their  own  fathers  and  mothers.  Most 
of  the  Turkish  officials  were  also  by  that  time  of 
the  Serb  race.  Not  only  the  great  statesman  and 
soldier,  Mehemet  Sokolovich,  but  six  other  Grand 
Vizirs  were  children  of  the  " Devchurme"  tax.  Up 
to  the  time  of  the  treaty  of  Pozharevatz,  1718,  a 
large  proportion  of  the  administrative  documents 
at  Constantinople  were  written  in  the  Servian 
language. 


PHANARIOT   CLERGY  323 

It  has  been  rightly  said  that  if  during  the  period  of 
the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  the  Servian 
people  had  been  willing  to  abjure  their  Christian 
faith,  the  Ottoman  State  would  be  to-day  a  Servian 
Empire  of  Mohammedan  faith. 

5.    CHRISTIAN    CLERGY 

The  clergy  formed  an  intermediate  social  stratum 
between  the  people  and  the  Mohammedans.  During 
the  suppression  of  the  Servian  Patriarchat,  all  of 
the  higher  clergy  were  Greek  sent  from  Constanti- 
nople, whose  affiliations  were  rather  with  the  Turks 
than  with  the  Servians.  The  lower  clergy  and  the 
Servian  monks  were  from  the  people,  and  shared  in 
general  the  lot  of  their  Servian  brothers. 

From  1463,  the  time  of  the  downfall  of  Servian 
independence,  up  to  the  re-erection  of  the  Servian 
Patriarchat  in  1557  by  the  Turkish  Grand  Vizir,  the 
Serb  Mehemet  Sokolovich,  and  from  the  final  absorp- 
tion of  that  Patriarchat  by  Constantinople  in  1767, 
all  of  the  bishops  for  the  Servian  Eparchiyas  were 
Greek,  Phanariot,  and  obtained  those  Sees  by  pay- 
ment for  them  in  Constantinople  of  a  money  price. 
Their  administration  differed  not  at  all  from  that 
of  the  Pashas  and  other  Turkish  officials  in  being  an 
exploitation  of  the  Serb  population.  They  dwelt  in 
the  towns  side  by  side  with  the  Turks.  They  had 
under  their  order  a  Turkish  guard,  and  wore  swords 
and  other  arms. 

The  Servian  clergy,  from  among  the  people,  were 
compelled  to  pay  to  the  Greek  bishop  for  their  con- 


324  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

secration  a  minimum  of  one  hundred  piasters. 
Scarcely  any  other  qualification  was  required  of 
them  than  their  ability  to  pay  that  and  other  sums. 

The  clergy  also  received  contributions  from  the 
people.  The  village  priest  received  fifteen  okas  of 
grain  per  married  couple,  the  oka  being  about  two 
and  one-quarter  pounds  weight.  He  was  also  entitled 
to  two  piasters  for  performing  the  marriage  ceremony 
and  one  piaster  for  the  burial  service.  The  village 
priest  in  his  turn  paid  to  the  bishop  four  piasters  as 
a  yearly  tax.  The  bishop  further  collected  twelve 
piasters  for  each  chimney  in  his  Eparchiya.  While 
travelling  he  received  free  hospitality  and  a  payment 
of  five  piasters  from  each  village  through  which  he 
passed  on  his  journey. 

The  properties  possessed  by  the  monasteries  under 
the  kingdom  and  the  empire  were  lost  to  them  under 
the  Turks.  Not  only  through  Turkish  depredations 
and  destruction,  but  after  the  fall  of  the  Serbian 
patriarch  when  the  Phanariot  bishops  came  in, 
much  of  the  property  of  the  Servian  monasteries  was 
sold  or  bartered  away.  By  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century  it  was  rare  that  any  possessions  remained 
to  a  monastery. 

The  monasteries  being  without  funds  were  kept  in 
repair  by  the  people  of  the  neighbouring  villages,  who 
came  willingly  and  without  pay  to  do  whatever  work 
was  necessary.  The  one  advantage  which  they  se- 
cured by  those  services  was  the  privilege  of  electing 
the  head  of  the  monastery,  the  Hegoumen.  On 
account  of  the  dearth  of  parish  priests,  the  monks 
often  went  out  to  the  surrounding  villages   where 


PHANARIOT   CLERGY  325 

there  was  no  priest  to  offer  the  sacraments  and  per- 
form the  parish  work. 

The  main  source  of  income  for  the  monastery  dur- 
ing this  period  was  voluntary  gifts.1 

The  Servian  parish  clergy  and  monks  living  in  the 
monasteries  were  continually  subject  to  practical 
blackmail  from  the  Greek  (Phanariot)  bishops,  who 
intimidated  them  under  constant  threat  of  inter- 
diction. The  Phanariot  bishops  also  had  the  power 
to  punish  by  imprisonment  and  by  the  lash. 

It  is  not  astonishing  that  during  these  unhappy 
periods  very  few  of  the  Serb  clergy,  with  some  brill- 
iant exceptions,  were  able  to  read  the  mass.  They 
had  simply  learned  by  rote  how  to  perform  the  rites 
of  marriage,  baptism,  burial,  and  other  ceremonies. 
Their  lives  were  miserable.  In  addition  to  the  un- 
limited exactions  of  the  Greek  bishops,  tLey  were 
obliged  to  pay  taxes  to  the  Spahis.2 

The  monks  were  in  somewhat  better  circumstances 
than  were  the  parish  priests.  Living  in  the  monas- 
teries, they  were  able  to  study,  and  were  less  exposed 
to  the  miseries  suffered  by  the  priests  who  had  to 
live  among  the  people,  and  therefore  came  in  daily 
contact  with  the  Turks. 

The  day  of  the  patron  saint  of  the  monastery 
was  made  a  time  of  great   festivity.      People   came 

1  Nenadovitch,  in  his  "Memoari,"  says:  "In  those  times  there  existed 
no  higher  position  [for  Servians]  than  to  be  village  knez  or  headman,  a 
popa  [parish  priest],  or  a  kalugjer  [monk].  The  pandour  or  village  guard 
was  also  an  envied  position! " 

2  In  contrast  with  this  woful  picture  was  the  enlightened  condition  of 
the  Servian  clergy,  both  high  and  low,  during  the  period,  about  two  hundred 
years  of  the  existence  of  the  Serb  Patriarchat,  from  the  date  of  its  re- 
erection  by  Mehemet  Sokolovich  to  1767. 


326  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

from  far  and  near,  the  occasion  combining  the 
characteristics  of  a  fair  with  those  of  a  popular 
national   meeting. 

There  met  the  headmen  of  distant  villages  and 
clans.  There  was  dancing,  feasting,  and  various 
other  forms  of  entertainment.  These  convocations 
in  honour  of  a  saint — the  only  opportunity  left  to  the 
Serbs  of  gathering  together — were  called  Sabors, 
after  the  name  of  the  ancient  Assembly.  Under 
cover  of  these  occasions  of  enjoyment,  the  Servians 
discussed  more  serious  matters,  holding  thus  furtively, 
and  without  Turkish  interference  or  knowledge,  an 
assembly  for  political  purposes,  which  they  called 
"Skupshtina,"  a  term  which  survives  to-day  as  the 
name  of  the  Servian  parliament.  To  these  saints' 
festivals  or  Sabors — a  word  also  at  present  in  use  ap- 
plied to  church  meetings — came  the  Gouzlars,  sing- 
ing the  old  national  songs.  There  many  an  insur- 
rection was  planned  and  means  of  common  action 
discussed.  These  meetings,  the  one  outlet  of  na- 
tional feeling,  made  of  the  monasteries  dearly  cher- 
ished centres  of  hope.  To  them  turned  the  hearts 
utterly  bereft  of  comfort.  There  glowed  ever  bright 
the  holy  central  fire  of  the  home  hearth,  gathering 
sweet  and  glorious  memories  of  the  past  and  visions 
of  a  future  when  the  Turks  would  be  driven  from 
the  land  and  once  more  Serb  homes  would  be  set  in 
blossoming  gardens  amidst  purple  plum-trees  and 
their  central  hearths  new  lighted  from  the  sacred  fire 
— "when  sorrow  and  sighing  should  flee  away." 


THE   "BERAT  BASHI-KNEZES"       327 


6.  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  "  BERAT  BASHI-KNEZES," 
AND    THEIR    TERRITORIES 

In  the  Ottoman  scheme  of  conquest  and  military 
occupation  it  was  the  policy  of  the  sultans  to  leave 
almost  intact  certain  districts  as  small  semi-indepen- 
dent principalities,  under  their  national  Christian 
counts  or  princes,  taking  from  them  in  lieu  of  all 
other  levies  a  fixed  yearly  tribute.  Being  isolated 
and  crippled  of  all  power  of  successful  revolt — at  the 
same  time  their  complete  subjection  offering  prospect 
of  a  troublesome  resistance  that  would  halt  the  march 
of  invasion— it  was  found  wise  to  leave  these  Servian 
chiefs  in  undisturbed  possession  of  their  lands  and 
to  make  no  effort  to  destroy  their  self-administrative 
systems. 

When  the  western  Serb  confines  should  be  reached, 
it  would  then  be  time  to  consider  the  best  means 
of  grinding  these  stumbling-stones  into  the  gen- 
eral dust. 

At  first  there  were  a  considerable  number  of  these 
tributary  autonomous  regions.  Some  of  them  ex- 
tended over  several  nahias.  The  dignity  of  their 
hereditary  chief  as  count  or  even  prince  was  recog- 
nised by  the  Sultan,  who  claimed  only  as  suzerain 
a  fixed  tribute  and  the  right  to  invest  them  in  office, 
which  was  done  by  special  "Berat."  They  were 
called  by  the  title  of  "  Bashi-Knez,"  and  no  armed 
Turk  might  enter  their  borders.  Such  were  the 
Stari-Vlah  lands,  lying  at  present  partly  in  modern 
Servia  and  partly  in  the  Sandjak  of  Novi-Bazar;  the 


328  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

lands  of  the  Vassoyevich  clan,  part  of  present  Monte- 
negro and  part  of  the  Sandjak  of  Novi-Bazar;  Pop- 
ovopoyle  in  Herzegovina ;  Cerni  Gori  now  in  modern 
Servia,  and  many  others. 

Bound  in  the  iron  network  of  conquest,  these 
semi-independent  districts  were  in  later  times  one 
by  one  closed  in  upon.  Many  of  them  disappeared 
with  the  great  Servian  insurrection  of  1595,  called 
St.  Sava's  insurrection,  which  for  a  brief  moment 
caused  the  Turkish  dominion  to  stagger,  freeing  all 
Serb  lands  as  far  as  Sofia. 

The  war  between  Austria  and  Turkey  in  1689 
destroyed  almost  the  last  vestiges  of  these  oases  of 
Servian  independence, 

Hoping  in  Austrian  promises  of  help  to  free  the 
Serb  lands,  the  people,  headed  by  their  Bashi- 
Knezes,  rose  again  in  insurrection  as  the  Austrian 
army  advanced.  The  Austrian  promises  proved 
delusive.  The  inhabitants  were  left  to  the  fury  of 
the  Turks,  who  were  then  in  a  position  to  make  an 
end  of  the  Bashi-Knez  fiefs.1  Nearly  all  were  swept 
out  of  existence  with  sword  and  flame,  and  their 
chiefs  punished  with  barbaric  revenge.  Eighty  thou- 
sand Servian  families,  guided  by  Patriarch  Arsen  III, 
fled  into  Austria,2  there  to  find  an  even  deeper  misery 
than  any  they  had  ever  before  known. 

1  The  Servian  Vassoyevich  clan  was  still  under  a  Bashi-Knez  by  Sul- 
tan's Berat  well  into  the  nineteenth  century,  when  the  last  Prince  Vassoye- 
vich, driven  out  by  the  Turks,  died  as  a  British  Consul  at  Serajevo.  The 
Miridites,  one  of  the  old  Albanian  self-governing  clans,  was  mentioned  as 
still  existing  by  the  Treaty  of  Berlin.  The  Greek  general,  Vassos,  who 
won  distinction  in  the  Turko-Greek  war  of  1897,  is  descended  from  this 
princely  family  Vassoyevich. 

2  See  illustration  586. 


HAYDOUKS   AND   OUSKOKS  329 

Besides  these  special  privileged  feudal  principalities 
in  Serb  lands,  there  were  a  number  of  individual 
Christians  who,  for  special  services  of  different  kinds, 
were  exempt  from  taxation  and  other  oppressive 
conditions.  They  were:  (1)  The  " Shahidjias,"  who 
kept  the  falcons  and  hunting-dogs  of  the  Sultan  and 
the  Pashas;  they  were  under  special  protection  of 
the  Sultan,  paid  no  taxes,  and  had  the  right  to  carry 
arms.  (2)  The  "Martolosi"  (Borderers)  who  were 
Christian  soldiers  on  the  Turkish  borders  and  in 
some  other  parts  of  the  country.  They  were  paid 
and  were  exempt  from  taxation.  (3)  A  few  Chris- 
tians permanently  employed  in  the  care  of  the  Sultan's 
horses,  care  of  war  material,  transport  for  the  armies, 
etc.     They  also  were  exempt  from  taxation. 

7.    HAYDOUKS   AND    OUSKOKS 

The  heavy  situation  of  the  Serbs  made  of  them 
the  "blood  enemy"  of  their  Turkish  conquerors, 
and  they  stood  always  ready  to  rise  up  into  fight 
against  them  "for  life  or  death."  The  best  and 
most  heroic  of  the  race,  unwilling  to  submit  to  such 
violence  and  oppression,  withdrew  high  up  into 
the  mountain  fastnesses  and  became  Haydouk  and 
Ouskok. 

The  mountain  forests  and  high  plateaus  were  the 
meeting-places  of  the  Haydouks;  the  neighbouring 
Yenetian  Dalmatia  and  the  Austrian  Croatia  became 
the  rallying-points  for  the  Ouskoks. 

There  were  Haydouks  throughout  all  the  Serb 
countries.     They  were  looked  upon  as  "avengers  of 


330  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

Kossovo"  and  "protectors  of  the  people";  seeing 
that  Christians  had  no  hope  of  help  anywhere, 
they  carried  on  a  perpetual  and  unequal  warfare 
against  the  strong  Turkish  Empire. 

During  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries 
Haydoukdom  wTas  at  its  highest  flower.  At  that 
time  there  were  so  many  Haydouks  throughout  the 
Serb  lands  of  the  Balkan  Peninsula  fighting  against 
Turks  and  all  other  oppressors  of  the  Christian  in- 
habitants that  the  Turks  could  find  no  security  on 
the  high-roads  or  even  in  their  own  homes.  The 
Haydouks  lived  in  groups  in  the  mountain  forests, 
and  when  even  two  of  them  were  together  one  was 
nominated  the  chief,  or  "Haram-basha."  Generally 
they  formed  into  large  bands,  and  sometimes  such 
bands  numbered  as  high  as  a  thousand  men.  But 
as  it  was  difficult  for  any  length  of  time  to  feed  such 
a  large  company,  they  separated  most  often  into 
smaller  groups  which  operated  independently  on 
ordinary  occasions,  but  joined  forces  for  important 
action.  Attached  to  the  service  of  each  Haydouk 
was  a  "Yatack,"  a  dweller  in  the  lowlands,  with 
whom  the  Haydouk  was  accustomed  to  find  refuge 
during  the  snowy  months.  During  the  rest  of  the 
year,  when  the  Haydouk  found  it  possible  to  take  up 
his  life  in  the  high  hills,  his  Yatack  brought  him 
food  and  replenished  his  supplies  of  ammunition  and 
carried  him  news  and  information  of  what  went  on 
among  the  enemy,  and  performed  other  services  of 
devotion  to  the  Haydouk  and  the  general  cause. 
The  Haydouk,  while  he  was  obliged  to  remain  with 
the  Yatack  in  the  winter,  became  for  the  time  being 


HAYDOUKS   AND   OUSKOKS         331 

a  shepherd  and  herder  of  the  cattle  or  other  live  stock 
of  the  Yatack. 

A  number  of  Haydouks,  instead  of  going  to  the 
Yatack  in  the  winter-time,  simply  crossed  the  border 
into  Venetian  Dalmatia  or  Austrian  Croatia.  They 
were  the  Ouskoks,  from  the  word  "  ouskotchiti," 
"crossing  over,"  or  the  "escapers."  When  the  snows 
began  to  melt  on  the  Serb  mountains  the  Haydouks 
and  Ouskoks  returned  to  their  heights  and  reorgan- 
ised their  groups  for  ready  action.  If  one  of  them 
were  missing,  having  been  killed  in  the  interim,  it 
was  considered  the  first  duty  of  the  band  to  avenge 
the  death,  which  was  generally  fulfilled  in  the  most 
savage  and  barbarous  form.  This  warfare  of  the 
Haydouks  against  the  Turks  prevented  the  Serbs 
from  ever  submitting  to  subjection  and  kept  up  the 
moral  force  of  the  nation.  It  maintained  among 
the  whole  Serb  people  an  unceasing  state  of  move- 
ment and  ferment. 

The  name  of  "Serb"  became  in  the  mind  of  the 
Turk  synonymous  with  the  word  "unconquerable," 
and  to-day  even,  the  Turkish  word  for  liberty  is 
"  serbeshty,"  a  derivative,  it  is  said,  of  "  Serb."  That 
continual  agitation  never  ceased  until  the  freeing 
of  modern  Servia. 

About  the  Haydouks  and  Ouskoks,  whose  life 
was  to  give  their  lives  for  the  people,  the  Serbs  have 
in  their  ballads  and  songs  woven  a  garland  of  ever- 
green sweet  memory.  As  long  as  the  Servian  name 
endures  the  remembrance  of  these  men  will  not 
perish. 


332  THE   SERVIAN    PEOPLE 


8.    DOWNFALL    OF    THE    JANISSARIES SERVIAN    INDE- 
PENDENCE 

In  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  tin1 
"Bevclim-me''  tax  was  abolished — no  more  Serb 
boys  were  carried  off  to  Constantinople.  From  that 
moment  new  forces  surged  up  in  the  Servian  rate 
—reinforced  with  its  own  best  blood.  The  loss 
to  Constantinople  was  proportionately  great.  Well- 
springs  of  power  began  to  run  dry.  Within  a  gene- 
ration the  dearth  was  felt  in  all  departments  of  ad- 
ministration and  control.  Then  began  a  period  of 
weakness  and  decay.  The  Janissaries,  enrolled  from 
volunteers  under  relaxed  rules,  degenerated  from 
their  ancient  force  and  character  as  a  fine  and  well- 
disciplined  military  order,  and  by  the  second  half 
of  the  eighteenth  century  they  had  come  to  be  re- 
cruited from  the  human  refuse,  the  spoiled  lives,  the 
desperados  of  all  Europe  and  Asia.  Unamenable 
to  control,  they  began  to  play  the  part  of  Roman 
pretorians.  The  Sultan  dispersed  them  in  small 
commands  throughout  the  empire  as  guards  of  forti- 
fied towns,  placing  them  under  the  orders  of  the 
pashas  of  Vilayets  and  Livas. 

The  Janissaries  carried  their  unruliness  with  them, 
and  before  long  tried  to  enforce  their  own  will  upon 
the  pasha  instead  of  receiving  orders  from  him.  On 
account  of  the  power  of  their  organisation  they  were 
able  to  act  in  concert,  making  demands  through 
their  comrades  in  Constantinople.  The  pashas  found 
themselves  unable  to  resist  them,  and  were  finally 


DOWNFALL  OF  THE  JANISSARIES   333 

forced  to  bend  under  the  yoke  of  the  Janissaries, 
who  began  to  rule  the  provinces.  Their  agas  and 
commanders  took  the  title  "Dahi,"  probably  from 
"Dey,"  Dey  being  the  title  of  the  princes  of  the 
Barbary  States  of  North  Africa.  The  Janissaries 
had  first  advised,  then  exacted;  then_t hpy  hgggn. 
actively  to  interfere  in  the^^n^nisjratjon_  of  justice 
and  in  the  private  affairs  of  individuals.  They 
came ^mlo^bitler^onflict  with  thejjpah57  whom 
theyjbated  for  their  privilege  of  holding  land.  So 
it  chanced  that  the  first  Serb  uprisings  of  the 
last  century  against  the  arrogance  and  violence 
of  the  Janissaries  were  supported  by  the  Moslem 
Spahis. 

Karadjicfa  and  Nenadovich  describe  vividly  how 
the  Janissaries  seized  the  land.  A  Janissary  Aga 
withjsome  few_fol  lowers  of_his  own  kind  entered  a 
village  to  which  he  took  a  fancy,  declared  himself  jts 
owner,  terrified  the  unarmed  inhabitants  into  sub- 
mis sion,  for t ified  himself  in  a  tower — with  general ly 
another  watch-tower  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  village 
— joined  the  houses. by_a  wall,  so_formjng  palisades 
or  an  enclosure,  and  proceeded  to  crush  the  entire 
population  into  serfdom^  These  formations  were 
called  J.'^fchifliks,"  the  usurping  Janissaries  calling 
themselves  " Tchiflik-Sahibis." 

Since  then  many  of  those  Tchifliks  have  been 
formed  and  exist  to-day  throughout  Macedonia. 
Within  the  last  thirty  years  disordered  conditions 
have  allowed  such  Tchifliks  to  be  created  on  the 
same  plan  in  north-western  Macedonia  by  marauding 
Albanians. 


334  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

The  Tchifliks  and  the  domination  in  other  ways  of 
the  Janissaries,  whose  ranks  held  the  robbers  of  all 
nations  and  whatever  human  dregs  eould  be  got  to- 
gether, brought  about  a  state  of  affairs  so  unendur- 
able that  the  Servian  population  of  that  territory, 
forming  to-day  the  kingdom  of  Servia,  found  strength 
to  rise  in  1804,  "  armed,  with  despair,"  in  the  heroic 
revolt  in  which  they  finally  won  their  freedom. 

The  attempts  of  the  sultans  to  recall  the  Janissaries 
to  order  and  discipline  only  aroused  them  to  greatei 
fury.  They  revolted  and  deposed  sultan  after  sul- 
tan—after Sultan  Selim  III,  Mustapha,  bringing  in 
Mahmoud  II. 

The  entire  Turkish  dominions  were  in  movement 
with  rebellion  and  insurrection.  In  Albania,  All 
Pasha  of  Yanina  strove  for  independence;  Monte- 
negro was  extending  its  borders;  at  Vidin,  Pasvan 
Oglou,  a  Bosnian  Serb  Spahi,  was  attempting, 
sword  in  hand,  to  carve  for  himself  a  principality  out 
of  north-western  Bulgaria;  in  Egypt  the  Albanian, 
Mehemet  Ali,  was  fighting  to  clear  away  the  old 
Turkish  system  and  lay  the  basis  of  a  new  empire; 
in  the  Hedjaz,  in  Arabia,  the  sect  of  the  Wahabits, 
were  in  arms  against  Constantinople;  "in  the 
Pashalik  of  Belgrade"  was  the  great  Serb  uprising. 
This  general  breaking  up  of  order  throughout  the 
Turkish  realm  opened  at  last  the  door  of  destiny  to 
the  Serb  people— the  "door  that  is  open  and  none 
can  shut  it." 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  LAST  HUNDRED  YEARS 

1.    TURKISH    ATTEMPTS   AT   REFORM 

MAIIMOUD  II,  with  swift  and  savage  methods, 
swept  the  Janissaries  out  of  existence,  and  sup- 
pressed the  entire  ancient  military  system.  His  suc- 
cessor, Abdul  Medjid,  in  1839,  went  even  further,  and 
with  the  chart  of  Gulhane  and  Tanzimat  abolished 
the  old  form  of  provincial  administration,  which  was 
replaced  by  an  organisation  copied  from  Western 
Europe. 

During  those  periods  of  change  the  old  Spahiluks 
were  transformed  into  Tchifliks,  reducing  the  in- 
habitants to  still  lower  levels  of  serfdom.  The  Tan- 
zimat, instead  of  bettering  the  conditions  of  the 
Christian  populations,  as  was  its  supposed  intention, 
forced  them  into  deeper  misery.  The  old  system 
with  all  its  woes  still  offered  one  loophole  from  the 
worst,  and  that  was  the  collection  of  the  taxes  by 
the  Servian  headmen.  That  custom  had  been  care- 
fully manipulated  through  the  centuries  by  the  Ser- 
vians until  it  was  made  the  means  of  preventing  at 
least  complete  degradation  and  race  extinction. 
With  the  Tanzimat,  bringing  a  whole  hierarchy  of 
tax-collecting  agents  with  boards  of  estimation  and 
administration  from  without,  the  people  were  robbed 

335 


336  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

of  their  last  means  of  defence  against  the  greed, 
cruelty,  and  rapine  of  the  Turkish  owners  of  the  soil 
and  the  officials. 

David  Urquart  vividly  portrays  these  conditions, 
and  in  his  reports  to  his  government  he  urged  the 
value  of  that  feature  of  the  old  system  which  made  it 
possible  for  the  Servian  headmen  to  themselves  col- 
lect the  taxes,  and  strongly  advised  its  reinstatement. 

However,  every  fibre  of  administration  had  become 
infected  with  corruption  and  with  destructive  oppres- 
sion. The  numbers  of  those  whom  the  Christians 
had  been  accustomed  to  nurture  with  their  life  forces 
were  replaced  with  swarms  of  officials  and  ruthless 
agents  bent  on  draining  the  people  to  the  uttermost. 
Nothing  practical  was  ever  accomplished  to  stay  the 
ravages  of  misrule.  The  literature  of  the  Macedonian 
Question  has  made  the  world  familiar  with  its  results. 

In  1856  the  Sultan,  as  the  outcome  of  the  Paris  Con- 
gress, proclaimed  a  new  charter  of  reforms,  the" Hatti- 
Houmayoun,"  which  was  to  provide  for  the  adminis- 
trative and  financial  reorganisation  of  the  empire. 

In  1876  Abdul  Hamid  proclaimed  a  constitution 
for  Turkey  with  Parliament  and  responsible  min- 
isters, complete  equality  in  the  State  for  Christians 
and  Moslems,  alike,  etc.  That  equality  had  been 
promised  by  the  Gulhane  charter  and  the  Hatti- 
Houmayoun,  but  the  people  remained  only  the  un- 
happy victims  of  these  and  many  other  so-called 
reforms  edifying  in  expression  and  phraseology,  un- 
workable in  practice. 

In  1908  the  Young  Turkish  revolution  established 


THE   LAST  HUNDRED   YEARS        337 

a  constitution,  and  the  proclamation  by  the  new 
regime  of  equal  liberty  and  rights  to  all  races, 
tongues,  and  creeds  in  Ottoman  lands,  with  the 
avowed  intention  of  obliterating  the  effects  of  the 
administrative  catastrophies  of  past  Turkish  rule, 
and  of  harmonising  the  elements  of  these  old  super- 
posed systems,  has  called  forth  expressions  of  good- 
will from  all  Christendom. 

This  succession  of  attempts  at  reforms  and  all  of 
those  general  proclamations  of  equal  liberties  and 
rights,  constitutions,  etc.,  expressive  of  general  prin- 
ciples dear  to  Europe  as  embodying  an  accepted  pan- 
acea, failed  in  Turkey,  because  they  ignored  the  real 
evils  which  oppressed  and  still  oppress  the  population. 
Those  evils  are :  first,  the  forms  of  rural  landholding 
and  the  agrarian  conditions  in  general  which  made  and 
still  make  of  the  Christian  agriculturalist  the  bonded 
serf  of  Moslem  landlords,  and  second,  the  fiscal  system 
with  its  forms  of  taxation  and  methods  of  perception. 

All  proclamations  of  liberty,  equality,  etc.,  by  the 
Turkish  Government  can  only  share  the  failure  of 
the  former  attempts,  unless  they  result  in  the  practical 
solving  of  these  root-questions  which  call  for  the 
abolition  of  serfdom  in  freeing  the  peasant  landhold- 
ings  and  a  thorough  reform  of  the  fiscal  system. 

2.    BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA   AN   AUSTRIAN  PROVINCE 

In  1878  Bosnia-Herzegovina  was  occupied  by 
Austria,  who  has  since  then  changed  nothing  in  so 
far  as  the  agrarian  conditions  and  the  amounts  and 


338  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

form  of  taxation  are  concerned,  except  that  the 
agriculturalist  is  no  longer  allowed  to  pay  taxes  Tin 
kind,"  although  the  basis  of  taxation  is  in  kind,  but 
must  pay  in  cash  the  amounts  fixed  by  the  govern- 
ment agents.1 

3.    SOVEREIGN    PRINCIPALITY   OF  MONTENEGRO 

The  inaccessible  heights  of  Tzernagora  and  the 
Brdas,  formerly  part  of  Zeta,  which  together  make  up 
at  present  the  principality  of  Montenegro,  were  able 
to  hold  their  own  against  the  Turks  and  always  main- 
tained their  independence,  even  throughout  the  period 
of  the  Turkish  occupation  in  other  Serb  lands.  They 
preserved,  up  to  the  present  century,  the  ancient  tra- 
ditional laws  and  custom  concerning  justice  and 
other  matters  within  the  frame  of  the  old  Servian 
self-governing  Zhupa  and  village  organisation. 

During  the  whole  period  of  Turkish  domination, 
those  Zhupas  or  Clans  formed  a  federation  which, 

1  The  agent  arrives  during  harvest  to  estimate  the  yield  of  the  crops, 
and  collects  from  the  farmer  at  a  rate  which  had  at  an  earlier  date  been 
fixed  by  the  authorities  as  the  rate  to  be  that  year  collected  for  the  prod- 
uce. That  rate  may  be  far  in  excess  of  the  price  which  the  farmer  could 
get  in  the  market  at  the  time  of  paying  his  taxes. 

These  conditions  give  rise  to  numerous  tales  like  the  following:  An 
Austrian  says  to  a  Bosnian  whom  he  meets  in  the  road,  "How  different 
things  are  now  from  what  they  were  under  the  Turks!  Then  if  a  Turk 
met  you  in  the  road  riding  on  your  donkey,  you  had  to  pull  your  beast 
aside,  dismount,  and  wait  for  him  to  go  by.    Times  are  changed  since  then." 

"Yes,"  answers  the  Serb,  "much  changed!  Now  I  don't  dismount; 
now  I  have  no  donkey." 

Or  this: 

The  Austrian  Governor  riding  one  day  through  the  woods  saw  an  old 
woman  gathering  sticks:  "Ah,  how  much  happier  you  are  now  than  you 
were  under  the  Turks!"  he  said.  "There  are  no  more  robbers  in  the 
woods  now." 

"No,"  replies  the  old  woman,  "no  more  robbers  in  the  woods.  They've 
all  joined  the  tax-collectors  and  the  military  police." 


THE   LAST  HUNDRED   YEARS        339 

in  regard  to  common  interior  or  foreign  affairs,  was 
directed  by  an  assembly  of  the  heads  of  the  Clans 
and  Zhupas.  The  chairman  or  president  of  that 
assembly  was  the  Bishop  of  Zeta  residing  at  the 
monastery  at  Cettinye.  The  assembly  nominated 
and  elected  as  their  executive  chief  an  official  called 
"the  Goubernador. "  This  regime  persisted  until 
the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  when  the  Bishop, 
Danilo,  by  a  coup  d'etat,  secularised  himself  and  pro- 
claimed himself  Prince  and  Autocrat  of  Montenegro 
and  as  such  was  recognised  by  the  European  Powers. 

Although  the  territory  was  able  to  keep  itself  free 
from  the  Turks  the  institutions  of  civilisation  and 
culture  which  in  early  mediaeval  times  had  reached 
a  high  point  of  attainment  in  Zeta  suffered  and  by 
degrees  disappeared  under  the  continual  and  des- 
perate strain  of  effort  required  in  the  defence  of  the 
country  during  five  hundred  years. 

Since  1880  Montenegro  has  had  peace  from  Turkish 
attack  and  has  been  slowly  advancing  toward  cultural 
development. 

4.    INDEPENDENT  PRINCIPALITY — MODERN   KINGDOM 
OF   SERVIA 

In  1804-15  Servia  fought  her  successful  wars  for 
liberty.  The  State  has  since  then  developed  at  a 
rapid  rate  a  civilisation  along  modern  and  progres- 
sive lines,  bringing  from  the  great  past  of  the  race, 
in  the  experience  of  co-operation  and  in  other 
economic  and  social  conceptions,  a  contribution  of 
perhaps  no  mean  value  to  the  problems  which  to-day 
occupy  general  human  attention. 


CHAPTER  IX 
RELIGION  AND  EDUCATION 

THE  Servian  Orthodox  Church  is  the  same,  as 
regards  dogma,  as  the  Russian,  the  Bulgarian, 
Roumanian,  and  the  Greek  Church;  all  of  these 
churches,  administratively  considered  and  taken  to- 
gether, form  in  creed  and  dogma  the  body  known  as 
the  Christian  Orthodox  Church.  The  guardian  of 
its  faith  and  creed  is  the  (Ecumenical  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople,  who,  however,  is  administrative  head 
of  the  Orthodox  Church  within  the  boundaries  of  the 
Turkish  Empire  only. 

Each  one  of  the  national  churches — Servian,  Rus- 
sian, Roumanian,  Greek,  and  Bulgarian — is  entirely 
independent  administratively  and  is  autocephalous 
within  the  limits  of  its  country's  territory. 

The  Servian  Church  to-day  is  separated  into  sev- 
eral independent  bodies — that  is,  one  for  every  Serb 
land:  Orthodox  Servian;  Montenegrin;  Bosnia-Her- 
zegovinian;  the  Servian  Patriarchat  at  Karlovitz  for 
Southern  Hungary,  Croatia-Slavonia;  the  Dalmatian ; 
and  the  Servian  Archbishopric  for  Old  Servia  at 
Uskub  in  Turkey-Macedonia. 

The  Servian  Orthodox  Church  was  never  a  "State 
Church"  in  the  sense  in  which  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  was  the  French  State  Church.  But  the 
Servian  Church  has  always  been  national,  as  being 

340 


RELIGION  AND  EDUCATION        341 

to  the  whole  people  of  all  ranks  a  guardian  of  na- 
tional hopes  and  the  accepted  formulation  of  spiritual 
belief  and  worship. 

The  Code  Doushan  shows  that  under  the  com- 
mon law  the  Servian  Church  was  bound  to  pay 
duties  of  no  light  nature  for  every  privilege  en- 
joyed as  a  department  of  public  administration. 
Its  power  was  always  "delegated"  and  held  in 
trust.  The  priesthood  could  not  arrogate  authority 
to  themselves  in  matters  temporal.  Nor  was  the 
priest  ever  an  object  of  superstitious  awe  or  fear 
to  the  Servians. 

Upon  the  fall  of  the  Empire  and  the  demolition 
of  the  State  by  the  Turks,  the  Church  gathered 
together  the  shattered  fragments  and  became  the 
sole  depositary  of  national  existence,  nationality 
during  the  Turkish  period  becoming  identified  with 
the  Church. 

Many  of  the  Serbs  and  other  Slavs  who,  as  has 
been  seen,  had  slowly  filtered  back  from  Yolgan  and 
northern  regions  during  early  centuries,  to  become 
subjects  of  Byzance  in  the  Balkan  lands,  could  have 
heard  the  exhortations  of  St.  Paul  and  others  of 
Christ's  early  disciples  who  brought  His  teaching  to 
the  Balkan  Peninsula  immediately  after  His  ascen- 
sion. Many,  no  doubt,  became  members  of  the 
early  Christian  Church  societies  founded  by  St. 
Paul  himself. 

The  spiritual  conceptions  of  the  Serbs  of  the  great 
migration,  when  they  arrived  in  those  lands  in  the 
seventh  century,  appeared  to  derive  from  the  phil- 
osophy of  the  Zend  A  vesta  and  also  bore  resemblance 


342  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

to  the  mythological  symbolism  of  traditions  that  even 
then  were  ancient  in  Greece.1 

The  Servians  were  not  slow  to  recognise  in  Chris- 
tianity something  they  desired  and  took  as  their  own. 
The  tenets  of  Christ  embodied  many  of  their  most 
cherished  racial  ideals  and  beliefs,  pre-eminently 
those  of  brotherly  love,  the  co-operative  principle, 
and  immortality. 

Christian  Slavs  had  begun  early  to  go  about 
teaching  the  new  faith.  It  has  been  strongly 
claimed  that  the  old  monastery  of  St.  George  in 
the  Servian  Banat  of  Temesh,  which  is  still  at 
the  present  hour  a  living  altar  of  Serb  Orthodox 
Christianity,  dates  from  the  eighth  century.  What- 
ever the  early  impulses  and  attempts  may  have 
been,  the  universal  acclamation  of  Christianity  by 
the  Servians  as  a  nation,  and  their  adoption  of 
it  under  the  See  of  Constantinople,  has  been  a 
matter  of  clear  history  since  about  860,  when  the 
two  "noble  Slavonic  disciples,"  as  they  are  called, 
the  brothers  Cyril  and  Method,  put  the  New  Testa- 
ment and  other  scriptures  into  the  Slavonic  tongue 
and  travelled  throughout  the  whole  near  East  teach- 
ing Christ. 

They  were  the  sons  of  the  governor  of  Salonika. 
Method  had,  for  a  time,  been  the  administrator  of 
the  Servian  clans  on  the  river  Strouma,  and  he  and 
his  brother  had  begun  by  making  Christians  of  those 
people  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  region  of  the  Var- 
dar  River. 

'The  goddess  Semele  echoes  the  Serb  "Zemlyia"  (earth),  enshrined  in 
the  songs  of  all  Slavonic  lands. 


RELIGION  AND   EDUCATION        343 

Closely  associated  with  the  story  of  Cyril  and 
Method  was  a  decisive  page  in  political  history — one 
that  thrilled  through  with  the  passionate  desire  of 
conquest  and  domination,  on  one  side,  and  on  the 
other  the  equally  .stirring  and  determined  effort  of 
self-defence  of  a  race. 

In  the  contest  for  supremacy  between  the  Pope  of 
Rome  and  the  Roman  Emperor  at  Constantinople, 
the  Pope's  master  move  was  the  creation  of  the 
Western,  or  "Holy  Roman  Empire,"  by  crown- 
ing Charlemagne  Emperor  at  Rome,  expecting  to 
find  in  this  newly  erected  pretension  to  world  sov- 
ereignty an  imperial  weapon  against  the  Emperor 
in  Byzance. 

In  the  movements  of  expansion  of  Charlemagne's 
successors  eastward  of  the  Elbe  River,  then  lands  of 
Slavonic  populations,  the  Roman  Catholic  missioners 
became  the  forerunners  of  Germanic  and  Frankish 
invasions. 

Romanisation  meant  the  advent  of  a  foreign  con- 
queror. This  national  danger,  which  pressed  against 
the  Slavonic  populations  of  the  Moravian  empire — 
then  extending  over  Bohemia,  Moravia,  Hungary,  and 
what  is  now  Germany  east  of  the  Elbe  River — was 
well  understood  by  the  Moravian  ruler  Ratislav, 
and  was  soon  perceived  by  the  Servians  under  the 
rule  of  the  Grand-Zhupan  Moutimir  in  Rashka. 

The  Moravian  ruler  Ratislav  (846-70),  through 
his  ambassador  at  Constantinople,  petitioned  the 
Byzantine  Emperor  Michael  III  to  send  him  priests 
and  missionaries  who  could  teach  his  people  in  their 
own  language  (Slavonic). 


344  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

The  Emperor  in  response  to  that  request  chose  the 
two  brothers  Cyril  and  Method.1 

The  Servian  Grand-Zhupan  Moutimir  established 
Christianity  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Constantinople 
as  the  religion  of  his  State,  erecting  a  bishopric  at  his 
capital  of  "Ras,"  now  called  Novi-Bazar.  The  small 
Servian  States  accepted  the  same  faith.  Throughout 
the  Serb  lands  a  simple  form  of  Christianity  existed 
which  had  been  handed  down  from  the  early  Church 
societies  founded  by  Saint  Paul,  Titus,  and  other  dis- 
ciples. These  forms  were  most  firmly  rooted  in  the 
Neretva. 

The  apprehensions  of  the  Moravian  and  Servian 
rulers  have  since  been  justified  in  Slavonic  history. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  no  Slavonic  nation 
which  embraced  Roman  Catholicism  has  ever  been 
able  to  maintain  its  independence.  They  have  ever 
found  in  the  policy  of  the  Holy  See  at  Rome  and  in 
its  instruments  the  clergy  the  influences  most  destruc- 
tive to  their  spirit  of  national  character  and  inde- 
pendence. This  fact  is  made  evident  in  the  history 
of  the  Slovenes  in  southern  Austria,  the  history  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Croatia,2  the  history  of  Bohemia,  Mo- 

1  In  Moravia  Cyril  and  Method  came  into  sharp  conflict  with  Roman 
missionaries  who  contrived  to  take  them  to  Rome,  where  Cyril  died  in 
February,  869.  Method  returned  to  Moravia,  where  he  was  hunted  by 
the  Roman  Catholics,  and  was  unable  personally  to  complete  his  mission. 
He  died  in  885.  His  disciples,  driven  away  from  their  country  by  the 
Pope's  forces,  went  southward  to  Servia  and  Bulgaria. 

2  Cyril  and  Method  had  converted  Croatia  to  Christianity.  A  church 
council  under  the  direction  of  Rome,  held  at  Spalato  in  1059,  decided  that 
all  church  books,  mass,  and  other  prayers  and  ceremonials  in  the  churches 
in  Slavonic  lands  should  be  changed  from  the  Slavonic  to  the  Latin  tongue. 
At  the  same  council  the  Croatian  ruler  accepted  the  jurisdiction  of  the  See 
of  Rome  personally  and  for  the  country.  That  decision  met  so  strong  a 
resistance  from  the   people  that  they  were  brought  to  submission  only 


RELIGION   AND   EDUCATION         345 

ravia,  Silesia,  the  complete  Germanisation  of  the 
Slavonic  populations  east  of  the  Elbe,  of  the  Slovacs 
in  Hungary,  and  in  the  history  of  Poland. 

On  the  other  hand  all  Slavonic  States  of  Orthodox 
faith  have  been  able  up  to  the  present  time  to  retain 
their  independence  or  to  regain  it  when  lost,  the  cause 
being  that  the  Eastern  Church  has  always  identified 
itself  in  all  lands  with  the  national  spirit  which  it  has 
cherished  and  inspired.  The  living  proof  of  this  is 
seen  in  the  history  of  Russia,  Servia,  Montenegro, 
and  Bulgaria. 

1.    ERECTION    OF    THE    INDEPENDENT    NATIONAL   SER- 
VIAN   ORTHODOX    CHURCH 

Although  the  Serb  peoples  had  early  accepted 
Christianity,  the  contest  between  Rome  and  Constan- 
tinople for  supreme  jurisdiction  over  all  Christians 
brought  about  continual  changes  of  Church  adminis- 
tration and  confusion  in  the  public  mind  concerning 
what  the  true  faith  really  was— when  Rome  was 
uppermost  the  Constantinople  Patriarch  was  anathe- 
matised, and  vice  versa  when  Constantinople  was  for 
the  moment  victorious.  These  wranglings  resulted  in 
general  scepticism  and  indifference  to  religion ;  of  the 
religiously  inclined,  the  more  conservative  elements 

in  the  twelfth  century,  the  period  coinciding  with  the  complete  loss  of 
Croatian  political  independence. 

A  curious  fact  that  occurred  under  the  papal  rule  of  Leo  XIII  is  worth 
noting.  With  the  re-establishment  of  Croatian  autonomy  (for  interior 
affairs  only),  an  agitation  took  place  supporting  a  general  demand  that 
the  mass  and  the  ritual  in  the  Roman  Catholic  churches  of  Croatia  should 
be  read  in  the  Paleo-Slovene  language,  which  is  the  sacred  language  of  the 
Slavonic  churches.  The  pressure  was  so  great  that  Leo  XIII  granted 
to  those  communities  the  privilege  of  choosing  either  the  Latin  or  Paleo- 
Slovene  tongue. 


846  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

among  the  inhabitants  returned  to  their  ancient  pagan 
rites,  and  the  ranks  of  the  primitive  Paulician 
Churches  became  reinforced  by  the  "moderns"  of 
that  time.  When  the  idea  was  finally  adopted  by  the 
Papal  Curia  that  the  Slavonic  spirit  of  democracy  and 
independence  was  a  danger  to  Roman  Catholicism, 
and  pursuant  to  that  theory  the  Council  of  Spalato  in 
1059  abolished  the  use  of  the  Slavonic  tongue  in  the 
rituals  and  introduced  the  principle  of  placing  Bishops 
of  foreign  birth  and  allegiance  over  the  Churches  in 
Slavonic  lands,  the  Slavonic  people  for  the  first  time 
saw  clearly  on  which  side  their  fight  lay,  and  the  pop- 
ulation in  large  masses  went  into  the  Churches  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople, 
and  other  large  numbers  entered  the  new  Bogomil 
sect,  which  was  entirely  free  from  ecclesiastical 
authority. 

In  about  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century 
there4  began  to  be  distinctly  formulated  that  under- 
standing and  alliance  between  the  Popes  of  Rome  and 
the  Kings  of  Hungary  for  united  efforts  toward  the 
subjugation  of  the  Servian  countries  (the  Pope  to 
obtain  their  Catholicisation,  the  Hungarian  King  to 
conquer  their  territories),  which  has  endured  and 
kept  strife  in  those  lands  during  the  centuries  up  to 
the  present  time,  and  which  combination  of  forces 
found  at  last  the  apparent  culmination  of  its  hopes  in 
regard  to  Bosnia,  in  the  last  crisis  resulting  in  the  an- 
nexation by  Austria-Hungary  of  Bosnia-Herzegovina.1 

1  One  of  the  documents  produced  during  the  Berlin  Congress  by  Count 
Andrassy  (Austro-Hungarian  delegate),  upon  which  was  based  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  claim  to  be  given  by  Europe  the  mandate  to  occupy  Bosnia- 
ller/.egovina,   was  a   letter   (of  that    period,   about   1S7S)   written  by  the 


RELIGION  AND   EDUCATION        347 

This  Papal-Hungarian  combination  was  a  menace 
augmented  by  the  newly  formed  Latin  Empire  at 
Constantinople,  and  the  Servian  Grand  -Zhupan 
Stephan  in  1216  found  it  wise  to  recognise  the  juris- 
diction of  Rome,  for  which  wisdom  the  Pope  re- 
warded him  with  a  Royal  Crown.  A  papal  Legate 
began  in  1217  to  organise  the  Church  of  Servia 
under  Rome. 

That  policy  of  Stephan 's  met  with  hostility  from 
the  Servians,  and  the  general  expression  of  dissatis- 
faction, headed  by  the  Sovereign's  brother  Sava,  be- 
came so  threatening  to  public  peace  and  even  to  the 
position  of  the  Ruler  himself,  that  Stephan  came  to 
an  agreement  with  Sava  for  the  reconsideration  of 
the  question  and  the  re-establishment  of  the  Ortho- 
dox Christian  Faith,  which  upon  Sava's  advice  was 
to  be  independent  administratively,  of  the  (Ecu- 
menical Patriarch  at  Constantinople  and  separate 
from  the  Archbishopric  of  Ochrida. 

Sava,  afterward  called  Saint  Sava,  then  went  as  the 
Servian  ruler's  ambassador  in  the  interest  of  the 
Servian  Church  to  Nicea,  in  Asia  Minor,  to  negotiate 
with  the  Byzantine  Emperor  Lascaris  and  the  (Ecu- 
menical Patriarch. 

All  conditions  were  propitious.  The  Despot  of 
Epirus  and  the  Archbishop  of  Ochrida,  representing 
the  authority  in  Europe  of  the  Byzantine  Emperor 
and  Patriarch,  were  quarrelling.  Sava,  profiting 
thereby,  and  urging  the  value  of  Servian  aid  to  a  re- 
Roman  Catholic  Bishop  of  Bosnia,  born  an  Austrian  subject,  purporting 
to  be  a  general  demand  of  the  Bosnian  populations  to  be  annexed  to 
Austria-Hungary. 


348  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

conquest  of  Constantinople,  was  able  to  obtain  from 
Lascaris  and  the  Patriarch  recognition  of  an  inde- 
pendent Servian  Church,  and  himself  was  conse- 
crated Archbishop  of  that  Church  by  the  Patriarch. 

In  1219  the  Servian  Autocephalous  Church  was 
created;  its  first  Head,  Archbishop  Sava,  on  his  return 
to  Servia  (Rashka)  organised  that  Church  through 
and  through.  He  created  eight  bishoprics,  and  took 
up  his  residence  at  Zhitcha,  where  his  brother  had 
just  completed  a  church  and  monastery,  which  re- 
mained the  seat  of  the  Arch-Episcopal  See  of  the 
Servian  Church  up  to  the  time  when  it  was  trans- 
formed into  a  Patriarchat,  with  seat  at  Ipek. 

There  in  the  new  church  at  Zhitcha1  Archbishop 
Sava  crowned  his  brother  king  on  Ascension  Day, 
1220. 

This  Stephan  Nemanyich  is  always  referred  to  as 
the  "first-crowned,"  not  because  there  were  no  kings 
of  Servian  race  over  Serb  lands  before  him — there 
were  several — but  because  he  was  the  first  to  be 
crowned  by  the  archbishop  of  an  independent  and 
national  Servian  Church. 

The  bishoprics  founded  by  Saint  Sava  were : 

(1)  The  Eparchiya  (bishopric)  of  Zeta,  seated  at  the 
monastery  of  Archangel  Michael  on  the  Prevlatzi; 
this  seat  was  later  on  removed  to  the  monastery  at 
Cettinye,  and  became  subsequently  the  autocephalous 
Bishopric  of  Montenegro;  (2)  The  Eparchiya  of 
Houm,  with  seat  at  the  monastery  of  Sveta  Bogorodit- 
za  (Holy  Mother  of  God) ;  (3)  Eparchiya  of  Dabor  at 

1  All  Servian  kings  have  since  that  day  been  crowned  at  the  Zhitcha 
church. 


RELIGION   AND   EDUCATION        349 

the  monastery  of  Saint  Nicolas  at  Banya,  on  the 
lower  Lim;  (4)  Eparchiya  of  the  Moravitza  at  the 
monastery  of  Saint  Archilia,  to-day  called  Arilye; 
(5)  Eparchiya  of  Toplitza,  seated  at  the  monastery 
of  Saint  Nicolas  at  Bela  Cerkva,  to-day  called  Kour- 
shumlya;  (6)  Eparchiya  of  Boudimlya,  seated  at  the 
monastery  of  Saint  George  "Gjourgjovi  Stoubovi" 
near  Beran ;  (7)  Eparchiya  of  Hvosna  at  the  monas- 
tery of  the  Holy  Mother  of  God  at  Pech  (Ipek), 
which  afterward  became  the  See  of  the  Servian  Pa- 
triarch; (8)  Eparchiya  of  Ras  in  Rashka,  where 
it  had  existed  before  the  time  of  Saint  Sava,  and  was 
renewed  by  him. 

Saint  Sava  brought  the  bishops  which  he  placed 
over  these  Bishoprics  from  the  Servian  monastery 
of  Hilendar  on  Mount  Athos.1 

He  unified  and  revised  the  Church  service,  ex- 
purgated and  brought  into  uniformity  the  Church 
books,  and  organised  the  Church  with  the  genius  of  a 
Statesman  as  well  as  of  a  Churchman,  creating  out  of 
it  so  powerful  a  national  institution  that  it  became 
identified  with  the  Servian  race  and  was  able  to  sur- 
vive the  early  struggles  of  the  Servian  State  as  well 
as  the  time  of  its  proud  prosperity  under  the  Empire. 

1  Mount  Athos,  on  an  arm  of  the  Kalkidike  south  of  Salonika,  has,  since 
the  Christian  dawn,  been  the  residence  of  hermits  and  monks  of  the  Ortho- 
dox faith.  It  is  also  called  the  Holy  Mountain.  There  all  of  the  Orthodox 
lands,  Russian,  Greek,  Bulgarian,  Roumanian,  and  Servian,  have  at  one 
time  or  another  founded  and  maintained  monasteries,  the  sanctuaries  of 
prayer  and  the  seats  of  learning. 

That  most  easterly  prong  of  the  triple  peninsula,  the  southern  point  of 
which  is  Mount  Athos,  is  the  one  crossed  by  the  famous  canal  made  by 
Xerxes.  The  entire  length  of  the  consecrated  promontory  has  been 
recognised  by  the  Turkish  Government  as  the  property  of  the  monks  and 
a  self-governing  territory,  possessing  its  own  seaport  with  several  small 
commercial  steamers,  trafficking  for  their  upkeep  in  olives  and  other  prod- 


350  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

During  the  dark  Turkish  period  the  Servian  Church 
as  constructed  by  Saint  Sava  was  the  Servian  people's 
defender  and  their  teacher,  the  guardian  of  their 
national  hope  and  faith  in  a  better  future.  To- 
day that  Church  is  still  the  chief  pillar  of  Servian 
nationality. 

The  few  Roman  Catholics  in  Servia  had  also  their 
bishops  and  parish  priests  under  the  authority  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Archbishop,  whose  See  was  at  Bar 
(Antivari) . 

To  counteract  the  proselytising  activity  of  the 
Roman  clergy,  the  Orthodox  Servian  Church  estab- 
lished priests  called  protopopas,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
prevent  that  propaganda  from  becoming  oppressive  to 
the  people. 

2.    BOGOMIL   FAITH 

In  the  twelfth  century  there  arose  in  Servian 
Christendom  the  sect  of  the  "Bogomils,"  considered 
a  heresy  by  both  Orthodox  and  Roman  Catholic 
forms  of  faith. 

A  Slavonic  priest  named  Bogomil  (God-lover), 
first  began  to  preach  in  Thracia  and  Macedonia  the 
doctrine  called  by  his  followers  after  his  name. 

ucts  of  the  country.  These  boats  are  manned  and  commanded  by 
monks  picturesque  in  their  monkish  garb. 

No  woman  is  allowed  to  land  or  come  within  the  confines  of  this  little 
realm,  and  even  no  male  stranger  may  do  so  without  express  permission. 

On  the  site  of  the  present  Hilendar  a  monastery  had  existed  from  the 
earliest  Christian  times  but  had  fallen  to  ruins  by  1196.  In  that  year 
Stephan  Nemanya  received  the  site  as  a  gift  from  the  Byzantine  Emperor, 
Alexis,  and  built  there  the  Servian  monastery,  which  was  added  to  and 
completed  to  form  the  present  beautiful  pile  of  Hilendar  by  subsequent 
Servian  rulers,  several  of  whom,  like  Stephan  Nemanya  himself,  abdicat- 
ing in  favour  of  their  heirs,  retired  there  to  end  their  days  in  study  and 
divine  contemplation. 


RELIGION  AND  EDUCATION         351 

Bogomilism,  which  spread  through  Servia,  find- 
ing its  definitive  retreat  in  Bosnia — where  it  played 
an  important  part  during  centuries  in  the  politi- 
cal history  of  the  land,  its  adherents  finally,  in 
the  Turkish  period,  becoming  Moslems — possesses 
for  students  a  "live"  interest  even  at  the  present 
time,  in  that  it  embodied  the  first  remote  begin- 
nings of  the  tendency  to  a  simplified  creed  and  a 
reaction  against  ecclesiasticism,  whose  spirit,  pene- 
trating to  France  in  the  Albigenses,  and  to  Eng- 
land, reappearing  with  Wy cliff,  and  back  again  to 
Slavonic  Bohemia  with  Huss  and  the  Moravian 
Brethren,  swelled  at  last  to  the  full  tide  of  the 
Reformation  and  Protestantism  with  Luther,  Cal- 
vin, and  Zwingli. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  first  theories  of  the  Bo- 
gomils  have  been  traced  to  a  spurious  book  entitled 
"The  Questions  of  the  Theologian  John  to  Christ 
on  Mount  Tabor." 

There  exists  a  fourteenth-century  manuscript  of 
this  book  which  was  especially  treasured  by  both 
Bogomils  and  Albigenses.  A  complete  Latin  text 
of  it  was  published  in  Paris  in  1691  by  the  Domini- 
can Benoist  in  his  history  of  the  Albigenses.  That 
text  is  fuller  than  the  one  in  the  old  Slavonic. 

The  teaching  founded  on  the  dualism  of  good 
and  evil  is  supposed  to  be  borrowed  from  the  Man- 
icheans.  The  mythical  story  was  that  the  earth 
was  not  created  by  God  but  by  Satanael,  after 
his  fall  known  as  Satan.  He  created  the  earth 
during  a  seven  days'  period  of  power  given  to 
him    by    God,    formed   a   man's   body   and   forced 


352  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

into  it  an  angel  from  the  third  heaven ;  then  a  female 
form  into  which  he  ordered  an  angel  of  the  second 
heaven. 

The  deeds  recorded  in  the  Old  Testament  were 
supposed  to  be  the  work  of  the  evil  one  in  the  guise 
of  God,  dominating  humanity  until  Christ  came  to 
set  men  free. 

"The  whole  visible  world  is  the  work  of  Satan 
— for  from  God  can  emanate  nothing  imperfect." 
Just  above  this  visible  world  is  the  invisible  perfect 
one.  God  is  fighting  to  reinstate  mankind  in  the 
invisible   perfect   world. 

The  Bogomils  thought  that  Christ  was  a  spiritual 
appearance  and  Mary  an  angel.  They  rejected  the 
Old  Testament,  baptism,  the  cross  as  a  symbol,  say- 
ing: "Why  honour  that  wherewith  God  was  dis- 
honoured?" They  rejected  the  use  of  all  pictures 
or  images  of  saints,  the  adoration  of  Mary,  all 
priests,  ceremonies,  or  ecclesiastical  hierarchies. 
They  took  Holy  Communion,  but  not  as  a  sacrament, 
only  "in  memoriam."  They  admitted  no  church 
bells  or  any  decoration,  only  a  white  table  with  the 
Gospels  lying  on  it.  Matter  was  evil,  therefore  they 
were  sternly  ascetic,  ate  only  vegetables,  condemned 
an  organised  State,  war,  marriage,  and  the  propa- 
gation of  the  race.  A  brother,  son  of  the  same 
father,  was  a  "brother-in-sin,"  "sister-in-sin," 
"father"  or  "mother  in  sin."  If  they  took  a  wife 
("accepted  to  live  in  sin")  they  were  free  to  give 
her  up  should  she  prove  not  sufficiently  God-fearing. 
The  term  "brother"  could  only  be  applied  in  purity 
to  the  fellow-man. 


RELIGION  AND   EDUCATION         353 

They  forbade  obedience  to  rulers  or  that  of  ser- 
vants to  their  masters.  They  were  opposed  to  all 
constructive  principle  in  social,  civic,  or  political  life. 
They  were,  in  fact,  saintly  anarchists  and  nihilists. 
They  were,  as  individuals,  pure,  honourable,  and 
truth-telling,  but  so  long  as  they  undertook  to  follow 
their  tenets  rigorously  to  the  letter,  they  formed  a 
disintegrating  element  of  terrific  force  and  became 
a  menace  to  the  State.1 

Stephan  Nemanya,  alarmed  at  the  spread  of  their 
pernicious  doctrines,  called  together  in  Rashka  the 
States  Assembly,  convoking  the  heads  of  the  churches, 
the  nobility,  and  other  representatives  of  the  clans 
and  the  people. 

It  was  of  vital  importance  that  no  disrupting  in- 
fluence should  exist  in  the  Servian  State,  which  was 
but  just  beginning  to  succeed  in  overcoming  the 
separatist  tendencies  of  sectional  over-independence, 
and  to  form  itself  into  a  united  and  strong  Servia. 
The  assembly  passed,  after  long  and  heated  debates, 
a  decision  to  make  an  end  of  Bogomilism.  That  de- 
cision was  put  into  strict  and  stern  execution  by 
Nemanya.  Most  of  the  Bogomils  of  Rashka  took 
flight  into  Bosnia,  where  Ban  Koulin,  the  Ruler,  was 
favourably  disposed  toward  their  sect. 

The  Bogomils  in  Bosnia,  where  they  gathered  as 
a  result  of  being  hunted  out  of  Rashka,  Bulgaria, 

1  The  extreme  mysticism  of  their  faith  appealed  to  that  capacity  for  ex- 
aggerated idealism  which  so  strongly  marks  the  Slavonic  soul  and  is  apt 
to  annul  the  power  of  sound  reason  at  that  point  where  the  "idea-alone" 
in  supreme  exaltation  leaves  its  rightful  realm  of  the  contemplative  and 
forcibly  attempts  to  enter  that  of  the  practical.  Thus  could  nihilism 
find  easy  propagation  in  Russia,  as  do  similar  fallacies  appealing  to  the 
divine  in  man  like  the  "  Doukhobortzi "  (soul-fighters),  who,  having  been 


w:,\  THE   SERA  I  \\    N.<  >N  I 

;m<l  Croatia,  abated  tin  itj   of   their  rules  "f 

condud  enough  to  comply  with  th<  dminis- 

trative  lawi  and  regulations  and  the  demands  of 
practical  life.  There  also  they  were  the  object  of 
unremitting  attacks  from  the  Hungarians,  who  again 
and  again,  under  pretext  oi  >f  the  Pope  al 

Rome  to  exterminate  the  Bo    miils,  invaded  Bosnia, 
and    uever  ceased    through    th<-   centuries   l<>   w 
blood?  war  againsl  its  inhabitants. 

\>  Boon  as  the  Bogomils  had  ranged  themselves 
under  Uwi  and  order,  renouncing  thai  pari  <>f  their 
creed  which  was  destructive  to  organised  -■><  iety,  the 
Servian  rulers  Bhowed  them  tolerance.  Their  rorm 
of  faith  was  adopted  b)  a  Dumber  <>i  the  nobility  in 
Bosnia  as  well  as  by  many  <»t  the  people  in  general, 
;m<l  a  succession  of  Bogomil  rulers  ^t<»«».|  stanchly  in 
defence  of  creed  and  nation  throughout  ;ill  the  Pope's 
Bosnian  wars  up  to  the  time  <>t  the  Turkish  conquest. 
Then,  rather  than  capitulate  i«»  Catholic  Hungarian 
domination,  they  wenl  over  in  a  body  to  Mohamme- 
danism. Especially  was  this  true  «>t"  the  nobles 
who,  as  Moslems,  were  allowed  to  retain  their  do- 
mains. 

A^  "Pauliciaiis,"  some  Bogomils  \\<-nt  in  early 
centuries  to  north  [taly  and  thence  to  England, 
where  Henry  II  had  them  branded  with  red-hoi  iron-. 

The    Emperor    Stephan    Doushan    protected    lln- 

suppressed  by  I  a  Governmenl  ictive  to  i  now 

so  much  of  a  problem  in  Canada,  their  land  of  n  I 

These  extreme  conceptions  are  related  to  tl  nduwho,  i 

Bhown  through  a  oiagnifying-glass  that  air  and  water  are  full  of  living 
germs,  had  bis  nose  stuffed  with  wax  and  hie  thai  he  might 

"never  more  breathe  the  air  or  drink  water  to  the  destruction  of  so  m 
lives." 


RELIGION    AM)   EDI  (  ATION 

B  romils  and  bem  freedom  in  the  i  ••  of 

their  l>«'li< •: 

( )l«l  chronicles  tell  thai  the  Bosnian  Servian  nobles 

Bogomils   and    even    Catholics      became    Moslem 

with  the  idea  of  returning  to  their  Christian  faith 

when    national    independence    should    !»<•    regained. 

That  time  never  came,  and  they  continued  to  live  as 

Moslem  feudal  lords  down  t<>  our  own  time.     If  is 

said  thai  even  to-day,  side  bj  side  with  the  exercise 

Mohammedanism,  they  privately  practise  many 

(»l«l  Christian  customs  and  rit»->,  also  that  some  of 

the  <>M  Roman  Catholic  Bosnians,  whose  ancestors 

bad  been  "forcibly  convi  it«-<l."  still  hand  down  in 

eneration  to  another,  the  recital  of 

the  Bogoinil  faith. 

D     omilism  i>  at  ,  t  completely  non-existent 

in  S<-rl>  lands, 

:>.    ERECTION     OF    THE     BERVIAN     ORTHODOX     PATRI- 

AH«  BAT 

King  Milniitin     1281    1 321  .  grandfather  <>f  I 
shan,  founded  four  n<      S       (  >  thodox  Eparchias,  or 
Bishoprics,  at    Prisrei    5   plyis     Uskub     Zvetchan, 
and  Lyiplyan,  and  the  Arch-Episcopal  See  was  trans- 
ferred from  Zhitcha  t<>  [pek. 

Under    tin1    Emperor    Doushan    tin-    number    of 
Bparchias  was  brought  up  to  twenty,  and  in  1845,  at 
[Jskub,  tin-  whole  Servian  clergy,  the  Archbishops  of 
<  )> -ln-iila  and  I|)«-k,  the  Bulgarian  Patriarch  of  Trn< 
with  \n>  bishops,  the  Greek  clergy  and  tin-  monk- 
Mount    Athos,   convened    at    the   call    of   Emperor 


S56  THE  -i:i;\  I  AN    VIA  >1 '  I  I 

Doushan  and  erected  the  autonomous  Servian  Patri- 
archal electing  as  first  Servian  Patriarch,  John, 
Archbishop  of  [pek. 

This  election  waa  a  ne^i  departure  from  canonical 
rules,  being  effected  without  tli<-  aid  or  concurrence 
of  tin*  (Ecumenical  Patriarch  of  Constantinople. 
The  Servian  Patriarchal  u;i».  therefore,  open  to  at- 
tack  as  bearing  an  initial  canonical  error. 

If  was  only  seven  years  later,  in  1352,  thai  the 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople  protested  and  launched 
againsl  the  Servian  Church,  the  Servian  people, 
and  the  Emperor  Doushan  lii>  anathema.  Thai 
anathema  developed  in  S<-r\i;i  two  opposing  parties: 
one  oational  and  patriotic,  averring  the  authority  of 
the  Servian  State  in  regard  to  the  creation  of  the 
Servian  Patriarchat;  the  other  part)  agreeing  with 
the  (Ecumenical  Patriarch  in  pronouncing  Doushan  'a 
creation  uncanonical  and  therefore  illegal  and  un- 
righteous.  The  Pactional  discord  thus  so*  o  continued 
up  to  the  time  of  the  disintegration  of  the  empire, 
to  which   resull   it  contributed  aol  b  little. 

The  Turkish  advance  Into  Servia,  which  had  al- 
ready succeeded  in  detaching  those  eastern  Servian 
lands,  where  especially  the  opponents  of  Doushan's 
national  policy  predominated,  caused  Tsar  Lazar 
Hrebelianovich  to  realise  the  necessity  of  harmonising 
those  ecclesiastical  differences  by  conciliating  the 
Patriarchat  of  Constantinople.  In  1:57  I,  after  an 
understanding  with  the  Servian  Patriarch  Sava  [V, 
Lazar  was  able  to  obtain  from  the  (Ecumenical 
Patriarch  the  withdrawal  of  the  anathema  that  had 
been  levelled  against  Doushan  and  his  people,  and 


RELIGION   AND   EDUCATION 

was  able  also  to  secure  the  recognition  of  the  Servian 
Patriarch  as  the  head  of  the  Serb  National  Church. 
The  happy  conclusion  of  this  peace  between  the  Ser- 
vianandthe  Greek  Churches  was  celebrated  in  1374 
at  Prisreo  w  ith  great  Festivity 

The  period  of  the  rule  of  the  Nemanyas  was  the 
most  fertile  of  growth  for  the  Servian  churches  and 
monasteries.  The  Church  received  rich  endowment 
in  order  the  better  to  meet  her  legal  obligations,  to 
care  for  tin-  >i<k.  crippled,  and  infirm,  to  feed  the 
bungr}  an«l  t'nllil  her  mission  as  a  Bource  of  learn- 
iii---  and  art.  The  Servian  kings  erected  and  main- 
tained  b  Servian  monastery  at  Constantinople  with 
departments  of  hospital,  education,  hospice  for  stu- 
dents, and  Library;  also  a  like  institution  at  Ra- 
gusa  and  a  monastic  hospital  and  bospice  at  Jeru- 
salem, which  i>  at  present  the  Russian  Orthodox 
bospio 

With  tin-  fall  of  tin-  Servian  D«->|»<»tat  in  1459  the 
Serbs  lost  their  autonomous  Patriarchal  and  the 
dan  (  burch  came  again  under  tin-  jurisdiction 
"i  the  Metropolitan  of  Ochrida  as  it  had  been 
before  tin-  time  of  Saint  Sava.  That  condition 
of  thin_:>  robbed  the  Serbs  of  whatever  protection 
they  might  have  been  able  to  wrest  from  the  Turk- 
ish authorities,  and  increased  the  heavy  oppression 
borne  by  the  Serb  race.  It  endured  for  over  a  hun- 
dred years. 

The  Servians  made  unceasing  efforts  t<>  obtain 
tin-  re-establishment  of  their  independent  National 

1  T:  nous  fort: 


358  THE    SKK\  IAN    PEOPLE 

Church,  l»nt  without  success  until  the  time  when 
Mehemel  Sokolovich,  a  Servian,  was  tli«-  Grand 
Vizir  of  Sultan  Soleyman1  II,  the  " Magnificent," 
L520  66.  Ilf  had  a  brother  named  Macarius  «rho 
was  a  Servian  monk.  Although  Grand  Vizir  M«- 
hemel  Sokolovich  w&a  a  Moslem  by  faith,  he  could 
not  forget  his  origin  and  his  people.  Alter  a  meet- 
ing with  his  brother  in  1557  he  re-established  the 
Servian  autonomous  church,  with  the  Patriarchal 
at  [pek,  and  sel  u|»  his  brother  Marcarius  as  Ser- 
vian Patriarch.  So  the  Serb-Mohammedan  Mehemel 
Sokolovich  gave  his  people  a  weapon  of  protection 
against  Turkish  violence.  The  Turkish  Sultans  rec- 
ognised the  Serb  Patriarch  for  the  Serbs  and  the 
( rreek  Patriarch  for  the  other  Christians  in  his  domin- 
ions as  the  supreme  heads  of  their  respective  Bocks. 
Thus  Church  autonomy  became  identical  with  nation- 
ality. That  new  autonomous  Servian  Patriarchal 
came  to  form  a  power  al»le  to  provide  a  compromise 
between  the  people  and  the  Ottoman  authorities. 
Macarius  re-established  the  Church  organisation, 
which  included  in  its  splendid  See  all  of  the  Serb 
lands  under  Turkish  rule.  It  included  Servia, 
Macedonia,  Bosnia-Herzegovina,  Montenegro,  Al- 
bania, Croatia,  Slavonia,  Hungary,  and  Transyl- 
vania. Among  the  privileges  accorded  to  the  Servian 
Patriarch  at  Ipek,  as  recognised  head  of  the  Serb 
race,  were  authority  and  jurisdiction  in  regard  not 
only  to  religious  questions  but  to  all  civil  matters, 
which  powers  were  exercised  either  directly  or  through 

'Mentioned  by  Shakespeare  in  the  casket  scene  in  "The  Merchant  of 
Venice." 


RELIGION    AM)   EDUCATION         359 

his  executive  agents.  The  bishops  and  t  heir  agents 
had  also  tin-  right  to  sil  in  court  beside  the  Moslem 
Mullah  and  Kadi,  as  representing  the  Christian 
"Rayah." 

The  Servian  Patriarchs  played  a  great  political  role 
in  all  of  the  relations  between  the  Servian  people  and 
the  Turkish  authorities  with  whom  they  were  often 

thereby  in  conflict.      They  had    a    deep    hand    in  the 

various  insurrections  against  Turkish  rule.  The 
Servian  Church,  remaining  the  sole  institutional 
guardian  of  the  national  spirit,  which  was  kept 
brightly  glowing,  was  looked  upon  by  the  Turks 
with  growing  distrust  and  dislike. 

So  it  came  about  that  after  the  insurrection  of  l«;s:> 
the  Patriarch  Arsen  UK  won  secretly  by  Austrian  (;\\v 
promises  of  liberty  for  his  people,  led  an  exodus  of 
Serbs  into  southern  Hungary.  Following  the  military 
support  given  by  the  Serbs  to  the  Austrians  in  the 
Austro-Russian-Turkisl]  war.  Patriarch  Arsen  IV. 
in  17:;7.  forgetting  the  hitter  disillusion  of  the  first 
Serb  exodus,  led  a  second  emigration  into  Austrian 
lands. 

These  events  roused  still  further  the  ill-will  and 
ire  of  the  Turks  againsl  the  Servians. 

k  ABSORPTION  t)F  THE  SERVIAN  PATBIAHCHAT  BY. 
nil.  GREEK  PATRLARi  II.  SERVIAN  CHURCH  I  \- 
DER    CONSTANTINOPLE 

By  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  Patri- 
arehat    of   Constantinople    had    become    the    political 

machine  of  the  Greek  quarter  in  Stamboul,  called 


360  THE  SERVIAN    PEOPLE 

"the  Phanar,"  and  w&a  used  by  1 1 «» »-» •  (  hreek  families 
(the  "Phanariots")  as  a  means  of  exploiting  the 
Orthodox  populations  of  the  Turkish  Empire.1 

The  Constantinople  Patriarch,  playing  upon  the 
Sultan's  desire  to  weaken  the  Serb  Church,  obtained 
from  the  Sublime  Porte,  after  the  second  Serb  exodus 
under  the  Servian  Patriarch  Arsen  IV.  1737,  an  ex- 
tension of  (lie  (Ecumenical  Patriarch's  right  to  eon- 
firm  the  consecration  of  the  Servian  Patriarchs,  and 
began  to  auction  oil'  the  Patriarchal  of  [pek  I"  the 
highesl  bidder. 

During  the  last  thirty  years  of  the  [pek  establish- 
ment there  were  no  fewer  than  twelve  Patriarchs  of 
Ipek  of  various   nationalities     Greeks,   Armenians, 

Turks,  and  others — set  over  the  Serb  Church   by  the 

Phanar  Patriarch. 

Each  one  of  these  men,  knowing  that  his  tenure 
would  endure  only  until  the  appearance  of  a  higher 
bidder  for  his  office,  made  hay  while  the  sun  shone. 
That  meant  more  and  more  burdensome  taxation 
for  the  people  whose  hitter  complaints  went  un- 
heeded. 

In  1766  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  repre- 
sented to  the  Sublime  Porte  that  the  Serb  Patriarchal 
should  be  suppressed  as  being  pernicious  to  the  en- 
tire Orthodox  Church. 

In  1767  the  Patriarch  of  Ipek,  Yassiliye  Brkitch, 
was  forced  to  abdicate.  Upon  the  undertaking  of  the 
Greek  Patriarch  to  pay  to  the  Sultan  a  tribute  of 

1  This  period  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  absolute  corruption 
coincides  with  that  of  the  Phanariote  Hospodars  who,  as  Turkish  govern- 
ors, drained  the  resources  of  Valachia  and  Moldavia. 


RELK.IOX   AND   EDUCATION        361 

sixty-three  thousand  aspers  "  Kara-grosh,"  the  Sul- 
tan confirmed  to  him  by  hatti-sheriff  the  incorpora- 
tion of  the  Serb  Patriarchal  into  that  of  the  (iieek 
Patriarchal  at  Constantinople. 

Those  Bishops  of  the  Serb  Church  who  refused  to 
submit  to  the  Sultan's  act,  such  as  the  Serb  Bishops 
of  Strumna,  of  Veles,  of  Presba,  of  Pelagonia,  were 
forcibly  ejected  and  replaced  l>v  Greeks.  The  same 
fate  befell  the  Serb  Bishops  of  Belgrade,  of  Ushitze, 
of  Novi-Bazar  (Rashka  .  of  Nish,  of  Samokov,  of 
[Jskub,  of  Stip,  and  the  Bishops  of  Herzegovina  and 
Bosnia  who  appealed  to  the  Russian  Synod,  claiming 
protection  and  recognising  the  Holy  Russian  Synod 
as  supreme  head  of  the  Servian  Church,  bul  with  no 
avail.  Everywhere  in  Serb  lands  all  bishops,  and 
even  the  lower  Servian  clergy,  were  dismissed  and 
replaced  by  <  rreeks. 

As  the  Patriarchs1  prerogative  included  n<>(  only 
disciplinary  and  administrative  power,  l>nt  civil 
jurisdiction  and  the  protection  of  the  Serbs  within 
their  bishoprics,  the  Serbs  were,  with  the  suppression 
of  their  Patriarch  and  bishops,  berefl  of  that  protec- 
tion and  left  to  the  mercy  of  Turks  and  Greeks. 
Their  position  became  unendurable. 

The  Greek  Patriarchat,  once  in  full  possession, 
auctioned  off  to  the  highest   bidder  the  bishoprics. 

The  bishops,  in  their  turn,  quite  openly  auctioned  off 

the  livings  of  the  low ci-  clergy,  and  all  church  offices 
became  the  subject  of  common  barter.     Corruption 

was  Complicated   by   the  continual  exaction   of  "  hak- 

shish,"  from  the  Turks  on  one  ride  and  the  ecclesi- 
astical superior  on  the  other.     The  burden  laid  upon 


362  THE   SEIN  I  A\    PEOPLE 

the   people  grew   heavier  and    heavier,   taxes   \ 
added  to  taxes,  each  rank  in  the  church  hierarchy, 
which  had  become  Greek,  levying  it>  nun  tribute. 

5.    BE-E8TABUBHMENT     OP     INDEPENDENT     BEBVIAM 

(  in  la 

Servian  Church. — Thai  part  of  Servis  which  now 
forms  the  kingdom  was  subjected  to  those  unhappy 
conditions  up  (<>  the  greal  Insurrection,  lasting  from 
1804  15,  in  which  the  Servians  won  their  freedom. 
The  first  act  of  the  new  Servian  State  was  t<>  re- 
establish the  complete  independence  of  the  Servian 
Church  with  full  installation  of  Servian  clen 

Montenegrin  Church.-  The  Bame  religious  miseries 
never  penetrated  into  Montenegro,  which  retained 
its  independence,  and  with  the  fall  of  the  Servian 
Patriarchal  recognised  the  Russian  Synod  as  supreme 
authority. 

Servian  Church  in  Bosnia.— Owing  to  the  peculiar 
relations,  up  to  1840,  of  Bosnia-Herzegovina  to  the 
Porte — its  old  Servian  nobility  having  become  Mos- 
lem, and  ruling  in  well-nigh  undisturbed  sway,  eyeing 
with  jealous  mistrust  every  new  element  of  authority, 
Moslem  or  Christian,  that  arrived  from  Constanti- 
nople— the  Greek  Phanariol  found  very  poor  hunting 
ground  in  those  western  ^vr}>  lands.  Jn  1880,  after 
the  occupation  of  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  by  Austria- 
Hungary,  the  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  and  privileges 
of  nomination  in  that  country  were  bought  of  the 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople  for  a  sum  of  money  by 
the  Austro-Hungarian  Government. 


RELIGION    AM)    EDUCATION        86S 

Bulgarian  Exarchat. — The  heaviest  suffering  fell 
upon  Bulgaria  and  the  territory  at  the  present  time 
forming  part  of  Turkey. 

The  savage  punishment  visited  by  the  Turkish 
people  on  the  Greek  Phanariots  in  1822,  and  the 
recognition  by  Turkey  of  the  Russian  protectorate 
over  the  Orthodox  Christians  of  the  Turkish  Empire, 
much  modified  in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury the  methods  of  the  Phanariol  Bishops  and 
(  lei 

During  the  sixties  in  the  nineteenth  century  a 
movement  headed  by  Prince  Michael  of  Servia  ;m<I 
the  Servian  statesman  Ybvan  Ristich,  supported  by 
Russia,  wrought  for  the  re-erection  of  an  autono- 
mous Slavonic  Church  in  Turkey.  Servia,  still 
struggling  t<>  fling  off  the  last  remains  of  Turkish 
suzerainty,  could  Dot  hope  to  have  this  Slavonic 
Church  take  the  form  of  the  re-establishment  of  the 
Servian  Patriarchal  at   [pek. 

'The  moment  coincided  with  th<-  reawakening 
from  the  slumber  of  centuries  of  a  Bulgarian  national 
idea.  TIk-  Servian  statesmen  as  Slavs  supported 
that  .spirit  of  resuscitation,  and  it  was  due  mainly  f<> 
their  efforts,  aided  by  Russia,  that  in  ls;o  the  (Ecu- 
menical Patriarch  at  ( Constantinople  was  won  to  give 
consent  for  the  erection  of  a  Bulgarian  Exarchat. 

The  Greek  Patriarch  erected  the  Exarchat  within 
the  limits  of  Danubian  Bulgaria  (Bulgaria  as  it  is 
to-day).  Hut  the  Herat  of  investiture  given  by  the 
Sultan  provided  that  all  parishes  throughout  Euro- 
pean Turkey  which  were  willing  to  eome  under  the 
Bulgarian  Exarch  should  be  free  to  do  so. 


3G4  THE  SERVIAN    PEOPLE 

The  establishment   of  thai   independent   Slavonic 

Church,  as  it  was  first  looked  upon,  was  greeted 
with  rejoicings  by  all  Slavs  in  all  Balkan  lands. 
Very  in; in v  parishes  left  the  Greek  Patriarchal  and 
went  over  to  the  Bulgarian  Exarchat. 

The  Greek  propaganda  realising  its  loss 
fierce  attack  againsl  the  new  Exarchat,  which  the 
Patriarch  attempted  to  keep  within  tin'  bounds  of 
Danubian  Bulgaria.  Finding  nil  efforts  vain,  the 
(Ecumenical  Patriarch  hurled  anathema  against  the 
Exarchat. 

Prior  to  that  date  the  Greek  propaganda  was  able 
justly  to  hope  that  with  the  help  of  the  Greek  Patri- 
archal a  great  Greek  State  could  be  erected  <>n  the 
ruins  of  Macedonian  Turkey. 

The  blow  dealt  by  the  Exarchat  to  the  Greek 
propaganda  was  deadly.  The  late  (Ecumenical 
Patriarch  said  to  the  German  Byzantoloeue  Geltzer: 
"All  is  lost  to  my  countrymen." 

With  the  creation  of  Bulgaria  in  1878  by  Russia, 
the  Exarchat  became  the  national  political  Bul- 
garian Church — instead  of  the  Slavonic  (  hnreh  w  ln'.li 
for  eight  years  it  had  represented. 

The  Bulgarian  Exarchat  entered  the  field  as  rival 
to  the  Greek  propaganda  in  Macedonia.  Then 
occurred  a  curious  phenomenon:  the  Bulgarian  Ex- 
archat becoming  recognised  by  the  populations  in 
Macedonia  as  a  Bulgarising  propaganda,  large  num- 
bers of  parishes,  not  wishing  to  be  made  Bulgarians, 
forsook  their  new  allegiance  to  the  Exarchat  and  re- 
entered the  Greek  Patriarchal  which  was  wise 
enough  to  provide  them  with  Slavonic  priests. 


EDUCATION  :;<;.-, 

V  an  Archbishopric  in  Turkey. — In  1901, 

for  the  first  time  in  <>n<-  hundred  and  thirty-five  jrears, 
the  Servian  Government  was  able  to  obtain  from  the 
Turkish  <  rovernment  ;m<I  the  Patriarch  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Servian  Archbishopric  a1  Uskub  and  a 
small  Dumber  of  bishoprics  for  the  Servians  <>t"  the 
Turkish  Empire.  And  in  1906  the  Turkish  Govern- 
ment al><)  recognised  in  Macedonia  a  Serb  Millet  or 

nationality. 

van  Church  in  Austria-Hungary. — The  history 
of  the  Servian  Church  in  Austria  and  Hungary, 
especially  after  the  arrival  of  the  Serbs  who  came 
with  the  immigration  under  t!i«'  Patriarchs  Arsen 
1 1 1  and  Arsen  I  \ .  in   1688  and   I '  continual 

fight  of  resistance  against  political  forces  aimed  at  the 
destruction  <»f  tli«-  Servian  Orthodoi  faith  and  the 
.  ian  nationalit 

6.  i  in  i  \  i  ion 

I  me  of  the  chief  functions  «»f  the  monasteries  of 
mediaeval  Servia  was  education  in  its  higher  grades. 
The  primary  ;m<l  lower  instruction  was  given  l>\  the 
parish  priests.  Education  was  based  on  the  classical 
o-Latin  learning  coming  through  Byzance;  it 
was  religious,  philosophical,  and  legal.  There  was 
much  translation  into  Servian  and  study  of  Greek 
and  Latin  classics,  including  philosophical,  historical, 
legal  and  dramatic  uork^.  For  (In-  liLrli<'^t  learning 
Servians  went  t<»  Constantinople,  where  the  Servian 
kings  had  built  a  hospice  for  them,  »>r  to  ItaK  or 
usa,  where  Emperor  Doushan  had  founded  a 
library  and  hospice  for  their  n- 


36G  THE  SERVIAN    PEOPLE 

Despot  Stephan  Lazarovich-Hrebelianovich,  in 
1407,  when  Servian  lands  were  under  the  greatesl 
strain  of  resistance  againsl  the  unceasing  pressure  of 
Turkish  conquest,  buill  and  founded  the  castle  and 
monastery  of  Resava  called  afterward  Manassia 
as  a  seat  of  higher  learning.  According  to  his  charter 
the  monastery  was  formed  to  house  all  scholars, 
whether  laymen  <>r  ecclesiastics,  who  were  devoted 
to  the  pursuit  of  art,  science,  or  any  branch  of 
learning.  Not  only  was  tin-  place  destined  to  be  a 
source  of  instruction  and  research,  but  the  great 
works  of  learning  ;m<l  classical  lore  were  l<>  be 
translated  into  Servian  and  copies  made  and  senl 
out  to  all  oilier  schools  in  Servian  lands.  Man- 
assia fulfilled  its  mission  during  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury or  more  until  finally  broken  up  by  the  Turkish 
invasion.  It  is  noteworthy  thai  this  foundation  of  the 
Servian  ruler  anticipated  by  two  hundred  years  the 
founding  by  Mazarin  of  the  French  Academy. 

After  the  conquest  of  t he  Serb  lands  by  the  Turks, 
the  greater  number  of  Servian  scholars  went  to  live 
in  Italy,  at  Venice,  Florence,  Pisa,  Bologna,  and 
other  towns.  These  scholars  took  with  them  a  rich 
treasure  of  translations  into  the  Servian  tongue  from 
the  Greek,  Latin,  and  Arabic  classics,  and  many 
manuscripts  of  these  classics  in  the  original  languages. 
On  the  walls  of  the  Duomo  at  Florence  can  be  read 
to-day  the  names  of  some  of  these  Servian  families 
whose  works  formed  part  of  the  glory  of  the  Italian 
Renascence. 

Roumanian  (Valaehian  and  Moldavian)  State 
documents  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries 


EDUCATION  307 

indicate   that    Roumanians   connected   with   public 
affairs  went  for  their  studies  to  the  Servian  seats  of 

learning.  . 

Russian  documents  of  the  same  centuries  show 
that  Servian  teachers  were  called  to  Moscow,  Kieff, 
and  V..  jorod.  In  the  old  Russian  libraries  of 
to-day  it  is  found  that  the  works  of  that  period,  of  a 
scientific  nature,  are  mosl  of  them  written  in  Ser- 
rfanised  Slavonic,  or  were  works  written  in  Servia 

and  carried  to  Russia.  „..,,-, 

Between  1450  and  1700  most  of  the  official  Turkish 
documents   in   Constantinople   were   written    in  the 

nan  language,  as  all  of  the  greater  Turkish 
Grand  Vizirs  and  many  of  the  other  higher  I  urkisn 
State  officials  were  of  the  Serh  race. 

\t  present  the  highest  learning  in  Servian  coun- 
tries is  found  at  the  Diversities  of  Belgrade  in  Ser- 
via and  Zagreb  in  <  ruatia. 


CHAPTEB  X 

LITERATURE,    THE    FIXE    ARTS,    MUSIC, 
AND   THE    DRAMA 

IT  can  rightly  be  said  thai  the  Holy  Bible,  "The 
Book,"  as  the  Servians  <all  it,  translated  into 
Paleo-Slovene  by  the  two  noble  brothers  Cyril  and 
Method,  "the  Slavonic  disciples,"  in  the  middle  of 
the  ninth  century,  was  the  firsl  book  in  the  language. 
With  it  dawned  Servian  literature  and  all  Servian 
culture. 

The  Servians  found  in  Christ  and  his  hook  the 
supreme  formulation  of  principles  of  brotherly  love 
and  individual  responsibility  and  dignity  which  had 
formed  the  main  ideals  of  their  race,  and,  so  far  back 
as  could  be  known,  had  been  characteristic  of  that 
race's  remotest  ancestors. 

Of  this  the  great  Code  Doushan  bears  incon- 
testable witness,  embodying  as  it  does  more  of  the 
Christian  ideal  than  is  to  be  found  in  any  other 
Code  of  those  ages,  and  in  some  regards  being 
abreast  of  the  best  "justice  and  mercy"  of  mod- 
ern attainment. 

No  less  noble  a  monument  to  this  fact,  though  in 
that  time  less  remarkable,  was  the  Hilendar  Monas- 
tery on  Mount  Athos,  the  creation  of  Servian  kings  and 
saints,  which  was  held  through  centuries,  and  is  even 

up  to  the  present,  not  only  as  a  famous  seat  of  learn- 

368 


LITERATURE  369 

ing,  l)iit  as  a  day-spring  of  national  and  lofty  racial 
inspiration. 

To  trace  the  literary  as  all  other  cultural  expres- 
sions of  the  Servian  people1  is  to  follow  the  race 
through  the  storm  and  sunshine  of  its  varying 
fortunes — sometimes  through  the  "Valley  of  the 
Shadow,"  where  there  is  but  plaint  and  chill  still- 
ness, sometimes  out  to  more  peaceful  plains  of  tem- 
porary repose  and  hope,  where  beauty  once  more 
took  heart  and  bright  streams  reflected  the  "sweet 
light  of  day,"  singing  in  remembrance  of  glory  agone 
an<l  in  prescience  of  grandeur  yet  to  be. 

Servian  literature,  prior  to  the  present  time,  had 
never  an  opportunity  to  develop  normally  and 
steadily,  but  was  manifested  as  well  as  might  l>e,  now 
in  one  region,  now  in  another,  during  periods  of 
pause  or  comparative  calm  in  the  long  battle  of 
national  defen< 

Servian  literary  production  was  of  twofold  char- 
acter: that  which  was  written  and,  alter  1494, 
printed,  and  that  other  mass  of  poetic  and  vivid 
expression  recording  the  heart-beats  of  a  race  and 
portraying  even  more  exactly  \{>  intimate  psycho- 
logical history,  with  its  power  of  intellectual  imagery 
and  ideal,  than  the  historical  events  which  it  de- 
Bcribed.  Epic  poems,  ballads,  and  songs,  as  well  as 
words  of  popular  wit  and  wisdom  embodied  in  "say- 
ings," humourous  stories,  and  parables,  were  handed 

1  For  reference  see:    P   I  Bafarik,  "Geschi-  -  .  1-1.  Literatur  Illyr. 

and  :  rben,  Band  3,  I  5;  B.  Jagich,  "Historiya 

Knjizhevnoati  naroda  hrvatekoga    ili  srbakoga,"  /.  _■■       L867     Btoyan 
Novakovich,  "  rpake  knjishevi  I,  1871;    Pypin  and 

vifli,   -i ,,-,..  ..;.    ...  r    5erbi8Chen  Literatur,"  Leipzig,  1880;   and  J. 
Grtchich,  "  Istoriya  j-rp=ke  knjizhevnost,"  Novi  riad,  1903. 


370  THE   SERVIAN    PEOPLE 

by  word  of  mouth  from  generation  to  generation — 

written  only  in  the  minds  of  the  living. 

Since  the  year  1814,  when  this  spoken  poetry  and 
lore  began  to  be  written  out  and  published  by  Y<>uk 
Stephanovich  Karadjich,  these  two  streams  of  Servian 
literary  expression  flow  together  in  one  splendid  chan- 
nel, being  able  for  the  firsl  time  to  make  way  unim- 
peded, like  some  grand  river  gathering  within  its 
bosom  the  living  waters  of  a  million  mountain  springs 
and  floods. 

The  written  litem  lure  comprises:  (1)  The  old 
Servian  literature  belonging  to  the  period  of  the  Ser- 
vian kingdoms  and  the  Empire,  up  to  the  time  of  the 
Turkish  invasion;  (L2)  The  "Dalmatian  Literature,'1 
covering  the  time  from  the  Turkish  invasion  to  the 
eighteenth  century;  (3)  The  literature'  of  the  "Kay- 
kavci,"  written  in  the  local  dialect  spoken  in  north- 
western Croatia  covering  the  period  from  the  middle 
of  the  sixteenth  up  to  the  nineteenth  century;  (4) 
The  modern  Servian  and  the  new  Serbo-Croat 
literature  developed  during  the  last  hundred  years. 

1.  THE  OLD  SERVIAN  LITERATURE 

The  literary  monuments  of  this  period  are  written 
in  the  Paleo-Slovene,  the  sacred  language  of  the  Ser- 
vian Orthodox  Church  and  the  first  medium  of 
written  Serb  literature.  Austere  and  classical  in 
mould,  this  body  of  literature  yet  resembled  enough 
the  common  speech  of  the  people  to  be  generally 
understood.  It  became  permeated  with  popular 
words  and  expressions,  and  those  wind-blown  seeds 


LITERATURE  371 

from  the  vernacular  bore  constant  flower,  Servian- 
ising  the  ancient  written  language  into  a  form  called 
by  philologists  "Old  Slavonic  of  the  Servian  Edition." 
The   chief   productions   were   publications   of  the 
Evangels  and  parts  of  the  old  Bible,   holy  legends, 
homilies,  and  other  works  of  a  devout  nature.     There 
wen-    also    biographies    of   Servian    sovereigns   and 
bishops  all  of  a  panegyric   character.     Among  the 
most  interesting  of  these  books  which  have  come 
down  to  the  present   time  is  the  biography  of  the 
great  ruler  Stephan  Nemanya,  the  unifier  of  mediaeval 
Servia,  who,  on  becoming  a  monk,  took  the  name  of 
Simeon,  canonised  afterward  as  Saint  Simeon.    This 
biography,  written   by  his  no  less  illustrious  son-, 
Sainl    Sava,   born   in    117o\   died   in    1237,   the  first 
Archbishop  of  the  Servian  Church,  and  his  other  son 
the  "Prvoventchani"  ("the  First-Crowned"),  King 
Stephan,  has  been  edited  in  modern  times  and  pub- 
lished  by  Shafarik  (at   Prague,  in   1851)  under  the 
title  of  "Xhivot  Svetoga  Simeouna." 
The  biography  of  Stephan   Nemanya,  written  in 

1264,   and   of  Saint   Sava,   by   the   monk  Domentian, 

were  edited  and  published  in  ls<J">  at  Belgrade  by 
Danitchich  as  "Zhivol  Svetoga  Simeouna  i  Svetoga 
Save." 

Among  the  manuscripts  of  Mount  Athos  is  the 
"Rodoslov,"  written  in  1272-1325  by  Archbishop 
Danielo,  containing  a  consecutive  story  of  the  lives  of 
the  Servian  kings  and  archbishops.  The  author  was 
the  contemporary  of  many  of  the  persons  whose 
history  he  wrote,  and  the  work,  though  a  panegy- 
ric, is  of  some  historic  value.     It  was  edited  and  pub- 


372  THE  SERVIAN    PEOPLE 

lished  by  Danitchich  at  Zagreb  Agram,  in  1866,  u i m  1«  r 
the  title  of  "Zhivot  Kralya  i  Ajrch-Episcopa  Srbski." 

The  oldest  Servian  annals  or  year-books  extant 
date  from  the   beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century. 

There  are  many  extant,  as  almost  all  of  the  old 
monasteries  can  show  several  of  them. 

The  oldest  surviving  Bosnian  document  is  a  diplo- 
ma of  Kulin  Ban  of  Bosnia,  dated  11S9.  There  are 
many  State  and  church  documents  of  subsequent  date. 

In  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth  century  Constantine 
the  Philosopher  wrote  the  life  and  times  of  Despot 
Stephan  Iiazarovich-Hrebelianovich.  Thai  monarch 
himself  wrote  an  essay  on  Love  and  translated  some 
of  the  Greek  and  Latin  classics  into  Servian. 

The  greatest  and  most  living  literary  monument 
of  that  period  is  the  codification  of  the  laws,  ordi- 
nances, and  customary  usages  of  the  Servians  by 
a  commission  of  the  legislative  Servian  body — the 
great  National  Assembly,  under  the  presidency  and 
guidance  of  the  Emperor  Stephan  Doushan,  called  the 
"Zakonik  or  Code  Doushan."  It  was  first  promul- 
gated by  the  Emperor  in  1349  (at  Scoplyia — Uskub — 
in  Macedonia),  and  was  revised  in  13.5  L 

It  has  been  edited  and  published,  together  with 
studies  of  it,  by  Stoyan  Novakovieh  in  modern  Ser- 
vian, at  Belgrade  in  1870;  in  Russian,  at  St.  Peters- 
burg, by  Zigel,  in  1872;  by  Florinsky,  at  Kiev,  in 
1888;  by  German  writers;  and  also  at  Brussels  in 
the  form  of  a  short  study  in  French  by  Borchegrave. 

The  language  of  these  laws  is  explicit  and  direct, 
and  their  spirit — like  a  Bosnian  river  re-issuing  to  day- 
light after  remaining  long  hidden  in  the  earth's  bosom 


LITERATURE  373 

— came  hack  with  reconquered  Servian  liberty  to  fol- 
low anew  its  course  through  modern  Servian  legislation. 

The  Old  popular  writings  included,  besides  fiction 
and  the  lives  of  heroes,  tracts  of  a  religious  nature, 
many  of  them   referring  to  "  Bogomilism." 

Much  read  were  a  "  Life  of  Alexander  the  Great," 
"The  War  of  Troy,"  an  Indian  story  called  "Stefa- 
nite  and  [chnitat,"  and  another  romantic  novel 
called  "Vladimir  and  Kossara."  There  were  many 
translations  from  Greek  and  Latin  classical  writers, 
more  from  the  former  man  from  the  latter;  transla- 
tions of  works  of  a  military  order,  "The  Art  of  War- 
fare," etc.,  and  numerous  translations  and  studies 

of    Byzantine   and    Roman    laws   and   codifications — 

the  Justinian  Code,  Trebonian,  etc. 

( )f  the  popular  epic  and  lyric  poetry  of  that  period 
very  little  was  fixed  in  writing.  Only  a  IV w  frag- 
ments of  these  have  come  down  to  us,  though  the 
custom  amon"-  Serbs  of  chanting  the  deeds  of  heroes 

and  national  events  in  ballad  form  was  remarked  by 
many  w  liters  and  diplomats  of  the  time,  among  them 

Nicephores  Gregores,  a  Byzantine  historian,  in  a 
document  of  1326. 

In  1  194  the  first  printing-press  was  established  on 
Servian  soil  at  Obod,  in  Montenegro,  by  a  Servian 
nobleman,  Bojidar  Voukovich  of  Podgoritza.  It 
printed  mostly  religious  books. 

Although  the  Turks  were  masters  of  Servian  lands, 
printing-presses  were  rapidly  set  up  in  several  places 
and  were  at  work  from  Belgrade  to  Montenegro. 
Measures  were,  however,  soon  taken  by  the  Turks 
for  their  suppression,  and  by  the  second  half  of  the 


374  TIIK   SERVIAN    PEOPLE 

sixteenth  century  there  were  no  more  Servian  pre 
left  in  Servian  lands. 

The  Serb  master  printers  wren!  to  Venice,  where 
they  erected  presses  and  continued  to  issue  works  in 
Servian.  Those  productions  were  of  a  religious 
nature,  most  of  them  for  church  use. 

2.   THE   DALMATIAN    PERIOD 

The  domination  of  the  Turks  from  1459  halted 
the  development  of  Intellectual  and  literary  life  in 

Servian  lands,  excepl  in  Etagusa  and  in  the  Dal- 
matian littoral  (which  was  under  Venetian  rule), 
from  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  up  to  the  end  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  Ragusa  (in  Servian,  Dou- 
brovnik)  was  during  thai  time  the  centre  of  Servian 
literary  production. 

The  Dalmatian  literature,  written  generally  in 
verse,  showed  signs  of  Italian  influence  in  form  and  in 
matter,  and  was  less  national  in  character  than  is  the 
rest  of  Servian  poetry,  whose  flame  in  all  ages  has 
been  lighted  at  the  central  "sacred  fire"  of  the  na- 
tional hearth. 

The  Servian  youth  of  that  period  generally  studied 
at  the  famous  schools  of  Venice,  Padua,  Florence, 
and  elsewhere  in  Europe,  and  nearly  all  of  the  Ser- 
vian writers  of  the  time  wrote  in  Greek,  Latin,  and 
Italian  as  well  as  in  their  own  language. 

The  great  merit  of  the  Dalmatian  writers  is  that 
they  freed  themselves  from  the  Paleo-Slovene  and 
wrote  in  the  Servian  as  it  was  spoken  by  the  people. 

Among  these  writers  the  earliest  to  win  distinction 


LITERATURE  S75 

was  Marko  Marulich  of  Spalato,  1450-1524.  He 
studied  al  Padua  University  and  was  a  scholar  of 
large  intellectual  attainment.  He  saw  in  Christ  the 
supreme  goal  of  human  journeying,  and  his  poetry 
was  religious,  his  chief  work  being  "The  Song  and 
History  of  the  Holy  Judith"   (1521).     As  a  writer 

in   Italian  also  lie  lias  sonic  renown. 

The  "father"  of  the  Ragusan  poetic  school  i>  the 
lyric  pod  S.  Mentchetich  (1457  L501),  followed  by 
George  Drzhich  died  15CJ  .  Hannibal  Lutchicb 
l  180  1540  .  author  of  the  drama  "Robinya"  ("The 
Slave-Girl"  ,  a  romance  of  the  Turkish  wars;  Nikola 
Vetranich  the  monk  Mavra  1482  l~>7<;  ,  writer  of 
[Mysteries,  "The  Sacrifice  of  Abraham,"  etc.,  and  of 
the  poems,  M  Remeta,"  "  Putnik"  ("The  Wanderer"  I, 
"Italia,"  etc.;  and  Petar  Hectorovich  I  186  i:.;  I  . 
author  of  the  ] >< »« t i« •  and  philosophical  "Ribanye." 

A  n<-\\  line  of  poets  begins  with  Andra  Chubra- 
oovich  (died  1550  and  his  epic  song  "Yedjoupka" 
("Gypsy"  :  the  dramatisl  Nikola  Nalyeshkovich 
L510  Bl  :  Marin  Dozhich  (died  L580  ;  and  Dinko 
Ranyina  1586  l<i""i  ,  a  writer  of  love  songs,  epistles, 
and  didactic  ami  idyllic  poems. 

The  highesl  poinl  <»t'  the  Dalmatian  period  during 
two  hundred  years  is  reached  by  [van  Gundulich 
d.l.io  ss  .  His  life  and  work  cover  a  portion  of 
the  time  of  Shakespeare.  He  wrote  many  plays  and 
translated  into  Servian  "Gerusaleme  Liberata." 
He  threw  off  all  imitation  of  Italian  or  classical  forms, 
and  used  the  people's  tongue  with  the  power  of 
nature  and  with  a  magic  glow.  He  shows  in  his 
great  epic  poem,  "Osman,"  the  supreme  life-drama 


376  THE  SERVIAN    PEOPLE 

of  his  own  age  and  the  century  preceding  it  tin- 
mighty  struggle  between  the  Christiana  of  the  Dear 
Orient  and  the  invading  hosts  of  [slam. 

The  exultation  when  Christian  victories  are  won  i> 
natural  in  a  Christian,  l>nt  Turkish  valour,  too,  Is  not 
denied  its  meed  of  praise.  "( )sman  "  shot*  a  this  char- 
acteristic— odd-seeming;  to  strangers  of  the  readi- 
ness  shown  by  Serbs  in  all  their  dealings,  whether 
military  or  political,  with  the  followers  of  Mohammed 
to  recognise  the  virtues  of  the  foe,  sometimes  to  laud 
a  heroism  directed  against  themselves,  considering 
only  its  intrinsic  quality.1 

Junius  Palmotich  (1606-.>1 1  was  also  a  playwright, 
finding  his  subjects  in  old  Ragusan  tales  and  histori- 
cal events.  He  founded  several  plays  on  Italian 
works:  Tasso's  "Gerusaleme  Liberata,"  Ariosto's 
"Orlando  Furioso,"  both  of  which  were  the  chief 
delight  of  cultured  Europe  at  that  time.  He  also 
went  to  Ovid  for  inspiration,  as  did  several  other 
Servian  writers.  The  language  \i>c(\,  in  spite  of  his 
foreign  classical  subjects,  was  the  simple  Servian  as 
spoken  by  the  people.  His  lyrics  and  other  poems 
are  chiefly  religious;  his  most  important  work. 
"  Christiada,"  is  based  on  the  work  of  Giorolomo 
Vida,  written  a  hundred  years  earlier. 

After  the  ruin  of  Ragusa  by  the  earthquake  of  April 
17,  1667,  and  the  destruction  of  her  riches  and  pros- 
perity, the  torch  of  literature  was  also  dimmed,  and 
only  flickered  during  the  seventeenth  century  up  to 
the  advent  of  James  Palmotich  (died  1680).     He  was 

1  This  may  be  partly  explained  in  the  sense  of  the  wit  who  said,  "  It  is 
wonderful  how  much  I  like  a  man  when  I  have  fought  with  him." 


LTTEB  \  I  I  RE  37*3 

a  Ragusan  patrician  who  wrote  the  epic  poem  "Dou- 
brovnik  Ponovryen"("Ragusa  Renewed").    Between 

Hi7«J  and   1737  o     •    I   oacio  1 1  h,  a  scholar  of 

it  learning  ami  renown, at  one  time  belonging  to 
tli<-  faculty  i»t'  Padua.      Ili^  works,  like  those  of  many 
of  his  compatriots,  were  the  flowering  of  a  deeply  re- 
>us  nature,  the  must  beautiful  among  them  being 
his  tran -I at  ion  into  Servian  of  the  Psalms  of  David. 

\iidra  Katchich  Mioshich  1690  1731  .  son  of  the 
couchanl  radiance  of  tin-  Dalmatian  period,  and. 
like  those  who  had  gone  before,  of  high  intellectual 
ami  classical  attainment,  was,  in  his  nascent  sense  of 
tie-  riches  Btored  in  tie-  genius  of  the  people,  a  kind 
of  Forerunner  of  the  modern  literary  dawn. 

Travelling  through  the  Serb  lands,  he  came 
deeply  under  the  ^p<-ll  of  the  Servian  -  ad  l>al- 

lads  in  which  he  heard  tin-  people  singing  the  deeds 
of  th»ir  heroes,  and  he  afterward  published  a  hook 
containing  many  of  these  national  songs  and  some 
bj  himself  in  the  same  style  and  spirit.  He  attempted 
to  include  in  his  collection  songs  of  all  the  different 
Serb  lands,  from  Croatia  to  Bulgaria. 

\il  th<-  writings  of  the  Dalmatian  poets  were 
edited  and  published  between  l^n!»  and  1899,  in 
twenty-one  volumes,  by  the  South  Slavonic  Academy 
at  Zagreb. 

."..    i  BE    mill;  vi  i  i:i.   OP    I  SE   "  K  \VK  kVCl" 

This  literature  flourished  in  the  north-western  part 
of  Croatia,  and  was  written  in  the  local  dialed  of 
that  region  called  the  Kaykavci,  from  the  use  of  the 
word  "kav"   instead  of  "shto"  for  "what."     This 


378  THE   SERVIAN    PEOPLE 

literature  began  with  and  was  the  fruit  of  the  early 
Protestant  Reformation  movement  in  the  middle  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  and  continued  to  be  produced 
up  to  the  nineteenth  century.  It  La  made  up  chiefly  of 
chronicles,  year-books,  popular  poems,  and  works  of 
a  popular  religious  nature.  It  has  QOl  left  an\  great 
literary  landmarks. 


4.   MODERN     SERVIAN     AND      NEW     SERBO-CBOA1 

LiTia;  \i  i  itr; 

The  literature  of  the  Serb  region  covering  the  last 
hundred  years  is  generally  considered  in  two  main 
divisions,  according  to  its  relation  to  the  two  great 
axes  of  modern  Servian  thought:  that  centring  about 
Belgrade  in  the  kingdom  of  Servia,  and  about  Nbvi 
Sad  in  the  Batchka,  called  Modern  Servian,  and  that 
having  Zagreb  as  its  centre,  (.died  New  Serbo- 
Croat.  The  only  difference  between  them  is  the 
alphabet  employed:  the  Servian  being  written  in 
Cyrillic  characters,  the  Serbo-Croat  using  the  Latin 
letters  with  accent  marks  borrowed  from  the  Tcheck 
orthography. 

Modern  Servian  Literature 

The  beginning  of  the  modern  Servian  period  of 
literature  dates  from  the  retreat  of  the  Turks  back 
across  the  Danube.  At  that  time  the  territory  of  the 
present  kingdom  of  Servia  had  not  yet  been  able  to 
throw  off  the  Turkish  yoke,  and  the  Serbs  of  the 
newly  cleared  Banat  and  Batchka  (in  southern 
Hungary)  at  once  began  to  set  up  schools. 


I.I  I  IK  \  I  l  EtE 

Hie  Russians  ien1  them  teachers  and  pro 

and  proffered  help  to  them  in  many  ways.     Russia 

had  also,  for  over  a  hundred  years,  been  sending  to  tin- 

tnd    th<-    Bulgarians   church-books   of  all 

kinds  written  in  the  old   Russianised  Paleo-Slovene. 

<  I    ing  to  these  causes,  the  first  literary  efforts  of  the 

t  and  Batchka,  the  products  of  these 

m  liool-  :iot  printed  in  tin-  old  Paleo-Slovene  of 

tin-    :  i    Edition,   l»iit   in  a   Russianised    Paleo- 

Slo\  •  If  enou  ds  and 

expressions   from   the   Servian   languaj  >p<»krn 

•In-  people,  t<>  become  known  as  tin-  "Slaveno- 

Sen  ian." 

M   si  «»f  the  lit.  ran  productions  up  to  the  dote  of 
the  ■  \\  ritten  in  tlii>  Slaveno- 

i.in.   altli<.  tain    authors   Still    wrote   in    the 

old  Sen  ian  Slavonic. 

>\\\>  period   include:    tie-  "  1 1  i»f <u-\ 
of  th<-  S  I '  '  bj  the  last   -        in  1  teapot, 

III    Brankovich    died   I'll     and  the  "His- 
■  >f  the  S  !'•  Especially  tin-  ( 

ind  Bulgarians,"  by  1 5  i  - 1 1 < » j »  [ovan   Rayich 
:<;  1801  .  etc. 
I  ittle  by  little  pun'  Servian,  as  spoken  f>\  fin-  people, 
ami  found  it>  prophets  and  hero 
Its  pioneer  \\a>   |)  C)    radovich,  who  opened  B 

irdinary   speech   to 

literary  Ian. 

Born  in  the  B  ■    •   '•     rchakovo  vfllage  in   11 
from  his  earli<  -  imbued  with  ■  passion 

for  study.     At  th<  I  fourteen  In-  ran  .  rom 

an    apprenticeship   and    entered    the    monastery    of 


380  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

Hopovo.     After  devouring  the  contents  of  the  library 

there  he  hungered  for  further  learning  and  left  Ho- 
povo bound  for  Hilendar,  Mount  Athos.  On  the  way 
he  fell  ill  at  Cattaro  (Montenegro).  There  he  wrote 
an  essay  in  the  every-day  language  which  attained 
immediate  success. 

After  reaching  Mount  Athos  he  again  left  that  place 
for  Smyrna,  passed  three  years  in  a  Greek  school, 
and  came  back  via  Corfu,  Albania,  Venice,  Trieste, 
and  thence  to  Vienna,  where  he  passed  six  years. 
Everywhere  he  studied  with  avidity,  giving  lessons  in 
one  language  or  another  to  pay  his  way.  From 
Vienna  he  went  to  Italy,  then  to  Constantinople, 
Moldavia,  Moscow,  Poland,  and  Germany.  There 
he  paused  to  study  at  Leipzig,  with  which  he  was 
much  delighted.  While  there  he  published  a  small 
book  of  his  adventures  and  travels,  dreaming  always 
of  his  compatriots  with  longings  that  they  might  share 
the  educational  advantages  to  be  found  elsewhere. 
No  romance  is  more  engaging  than  this  little  book, 
every  page  aglow  with  pure  patriotism.  Yearning- 
over  his  people,  he  realises  the  value  to  a  race  that 
would  survive  of  fidelity  to  strict  and  severe  moral 
rectitude,  along  with  cultural  expansion  and  literary 
renascence.  His  is  the  first  production  in  Modern 
Servian  and  remains  one  of  the  most  interesting. 

After  two  years  in  Germany  he  went  to  England, 
where  he  found  hospitable  appreciation  and  true 
friends.  Then  he  returned  to  Germany,  where  he 
published  his  translations  of  .Esop's  Fables  in  a 
simple,  clear  style.  After  pushing  still  farther  afield 
—through  Russia  then  back  to  Venice— the  earthly 


LITERATURE  881 

journeyings  of  the  old  wanderer  came  to  a  close  at 
Belgrade,  where  he  died  in  1811. 

He  had  gone  there  in  answer  to  the  call  of  Kara- 
George,  the  first  Liberator  of  modern  Servia,  who 
made  him  first  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  in  the 
new  ly  organised  ( rovernment. 

Among  other  educational  works  he  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  the  high  school  which  has  since  developed 
into  the  1  University  of  Belgrade. 

Following  a  Dumber  of  writers  who  were  striving 
toward  hritcr  forms,  among  whom  was  Dimitrye 
Davidovich  1789  ls;:i  ,  publisher  and  editor  dur- 
ing two  years  of  a  Servian  newspaper  and  a  Ser- 
vian almanac  there  appealed  Vouk  Stephanovich 
Karadjich  178*2  ls,'f  .  Of  strong  character  and  orig- 
inal genius,  he  drew  From  the  speech  of  the  people  a 

rich    and    beauteOUfl    literary    medium,    and    endowed 

the  mother-tongue  in  return  with  a  ooble  and  ele- 
gant Formulation,  simplifying  and  fixing  its  means 
of  orthography  and  it>  Forms  of  grammar  and  con- 
struction for  the  expression  of  a  language  which  is 
the  most  perfect  and  modern  of  all  the  Slavonic 
dialects.  It  is  to-day  in  universal  use,  written  either 
in  Cyrillic  (phonetic)  alphabet  or  in  Latin  characters, 
throughout  all  the  regions  of  the  great  Servian  Block 
of  territory. 

Vouk  Stephanovich  Karadjich,  like  Obradovich, 
the  scholarly  wanderers  of  the  Dalmatian  period,  and 
the  ( )M  Servian  writers,  possessed  the  fine  intellectual 
mettle  which  has  bo  often  characterised  Servian 
writers,  statesmen,  and  men  of  science,  and  was  in 
early  childhood  and  ever  after  an  ardent  seeker  For 


382  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

knowledge.  He  was  born  in  Servia  and  studied 
first  at  Belgrade  and  Karlovitz.  During  the  great 
rebellion  against  Turkish  rule  he  was  secretary  to 
Kara-George  and  other  leaders,  and  turned  to  good 
account  his  journeys  from  one  side  of  the  country 
to  the  other,  to  gather  from  the  lips  of  the  people 
their  songs  and  ballads,  poems,  proverbs,  and  tales. 
After  the  flight  of  Kara-George  he  went  to  Vienna, 
where  he  published  all  that  wealth  of  national 
literary  treasure — never  until  that  time  put  on 
paper.  The  appearance  of  these  poems  was  a  reve- 
lation to  Europe,  calling  forth  expressions  of  delight 
and  of  astonishment  that  they  should  have  so  long 
existed  unknown  to  the  Western  world. 

In  the  same  year,  1814,  he  published  a  Servian 
grammar,  the  forerunner  of  his  great  work.  A 
Serbo-German-Latin  dictionary  followed  in  1818. 
These  publications,  with  studies  and  classifications 
of  the  old  customary  and  traditional  forms  of  gram- 
matical construction  which  he  found  in  the  mass  of 
matter  he  had  collected,  were  epoch-making  and, 
indeed,  coincided  with  the  fresh  dawn  of  a  new  epoch 
in  Servian  national  existence. 

Like  all  reformers,  he  met  at  first  with  hot  oppo- 
sition from  those  who  were  unable  to  appreciate 
the  trend  and  potentiality  of  his  work;  many  others 
gave  him  enthusiastic  support.  His  publication  of 
the  Danitza  (Morning  Star) — 1826-29 — though  pri- 
marily devoted  to  literary  interests,  had  a  strong  in- 
fluence on  the  current  of  national  ideas  which  were 
once  more  stirring  with  awakening  force  among  all 
Serbs. 


LITERATURE  383 

A  book  would  be  required  for  any  adequate  exam- 
ination of  the  various  manifestations  of  the  Servian 
literary  impulse  throughout  the  Serb  lands  during  the 
firsl  years  of  the  modern  renascence.  Many  literary 
societies  and  clubs  were  founded  in  order  to  make 
possible  the  publication  of  the  works  of  young 
authors,  aewspapers,  almanacs,  brochures,  etc.,  and 
in  order  to  bestow  purses  and  prizes  upon  poor 
Btudents.  The  two  most  important  of  these  societies 
were  the  "Matitza"  (the  "Servian  Queen  Bee") 
and  the  "Omladina"  ("Servian  Youth").  The 
history  of  the  "Matitza,"  as  first  conceived  by 
Yovan  Eladzhitch  in  1823,  and  its  final  triumphant 
establishment  at  Nbvi-Sad  after  many  years  of 
courageous  effort  by  it>  promulgators  against  heavy 
odds,  makes  in  itself  an  inspiring  tale.  The  "Om- 
ladina"' is  also  an  exemplification  of  true  Servian 
conquest  by  unflagging  devotion  to  an  ideal. 

Novi-Sad  is  still  a  rallying-place  for  the  Serbs  of 
South  Hungary  (Banat  and  Batchka),  though  the 
founding  of  the  Scientific  Societies  of  Belgrade  and 
the  swift  educational  growth  of  the  young  St;ite 
across  the  Danube  had  the  effect  of  transferring  the 
emtre  of  Servian  culture  from  Novi-Sad  to  Belgrade. 

Lucia n  MouzhiNki  (17T3  1887)  wrote  national  odes 
in  classical  form,  and  the  poems  of  Vitjentiye  Rakich, 
who  lived  from  17.;ii  to  1818,  had  their  origin  in  pop- 
ular legends.  <  ravril  Kovatchevich,  in  the  early  nine- 
teenth  century,  sang  the  songs  of  the  Servian  Insur- 
rection under  Kara-George  and  Milosh  Obrenovitch. 

Then  came  the  novel-writers  Athanas  Stoyko- 
vich   and   Milovan   Vidakovich    (1779-1841);    Sima 


384  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

Milutinovich,  born  at  Serayevo,  Bosnia  (1791-1  st;  ; 
the  poet  of  a  cycle  of  national  songs  called  "Srbyi- 
anka,"  an  apotheosis  of  the  fights  for  freedom;  the 
lyric  poet  and  dramatist  Yo van  S.  Popovich  (1806 
56),  author  of  the  tragedy  "King  Stephan  Detchan- 
ski";  the  dramatist  Lazar  Lazarevich  (1805-46), 
who  wrote  the  drama  "Vladimir  and  Kosara"  (1829); 
and  Yovan  Subotich  (1817-86),  who  wrote  the  epic 
poem  "Stephan  Detchanski,"  into  which  he  wove 
numerous  pieces  of  popular  poetry  and  song. 

The  three  most  important  of  the  lyric  poets  of  the 
time,  chanting  the  national  spirit,  were:  Branko 
Raditchevich,  Peter  I,  Petrovich-Nyegosh,  Prince- 
Bishop  of  Montenegro,  and  Zmay  Yovan  Yovano- 
vich.  Branko  Raditchevich  (1824-53)  was  the  auth- 
or of  happy  songs  of  young  life  and  sweet  love  songs 
written  in  elegant  and  musical  verse;  the  Prince- 
Bishop  of  Montenegro  (1813-51),  Petrovich-Nye- 
gosh, great-uncle  of  the  present  Prince  Nicola  of 
Montenegro,  was  a  poet  from  youth,  seeking  in  verse 
the  expression  of  sublime  and  philosophical  ideas. 
His  finest  work  is  "Gorski  Vyenatz"  ("Mountain 
Garland"),  wreathing  a  drama  of  poems  about  the 
Black  Mountain  and  its  people;  while  Zmay  Yovan 
Yovanovich  (1833-1904),  the  most  popular  of  modern 
Serb  poets,  was  a  writer  of  satirical  verses,  lyrics,  and 
children's  songs,  and  a  translator  of  poems  from 
many  languages,  including  English,  into  Servian. 

Other  poets  are  Gjura  Yakshich  (1832-78),  a 
poet  and  novelist  and  the  author  of  many  stories  and 
plays  much  considered  in  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth   century;    Yovan    Ilich    (1832-76),    Voyslav 


LITERATURE  385 

Hid,  (1862  M  •  Lyouba  Nenadovich,  Voyslav  Kat- 
chanski,  Milorad  J.  Mitrovich  (1867-1907),  Yovan 
Doutchich,  who  is  the  modem  sentimental  lyric 
poet,  and  Sv.  Stephanovich,  the  lyric  writer,  poet- 
philosopher,  and  translator  of  Shakespeare  into  the 
Sen  ian  tongue. 

The  present  Prince  Nicola  [.,  Petrovich-Nyegosh 
of  Montenegro,  baa  written  many  songs  and  poems 
and  has  won  especial  distinction  as  the  author  of 
the  poetical  drama  "Balkanska  Tzaritza"  ("The 
Balkan  Empress"  .  This  play  has  been  translated 
into  several  European  Lang 

bnong  writers  of  corned)  and  drama  are  Kosta 
Trifkovicb  1848  75  ;  Milosh  Cvetich  (1845  L906  , 
author  of  the  dramas  "Tzar  Doushan,"  "Nemanya," 
etc.;  Dragoutin  Uych,  with  "  King  Voukashin";  and 
especiallj  Lazar  Kostich,  born  in  1841,  author  of  the 
best  contemporary  Servian  dramas,  among  which 
are  *'  Maxim  Tzernoyevich,"  "Gordana,"  and  "  Pera 
-  edinatz."  Kostich  haa  made  tint-  translations 
Into  Servian  of  Beveral  of  Shakespeare  s  masterpie< 

The  advancing  nineteenth  century  developed  sev- 
eral writers  who  brought  to  a  high  degree  of  perfec- 
tion the  art  of  presenting  vividly  to  the  mind  a  p 
or  a  day  of  life  in  Bhorl  Btories.  These  short  stories 
have  the  characteristic  that  while  they  are  written 
with  a  luzht  and  occasionally  a  satirical  touch,  and 
depict  engaging  or  humourous  traits  of  Servian  life 
and  character,  they  are  at  the  Bame  time  keen  studies 
of  psychological,  social,  and  racial  conditions.  The 
first  of  these  in  importance  were  Lazar  Lazarovicfa 
(1851  90),   Milan  Militchevich,  Ilya  Voukitchevich 


386  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

(1866-99),  Yanko  Vessilinovich  (who  died  in  1904), 
Stepan  Mitrov  Lyubisha,  Stevan  Srematz  (who  died 
in  1906),  Sima  Matavouly,  Marco  Tzar,  Milorad 
Popovich  Shaptchanin  (1841-95),  and  Sv.  Tchoro- 
vich.  Tchedo  Mijatovich,  former  Servian  Minister 
in  London,  represents  a  considerable  lisl  of  success- 
ful novels,  his  style  being  especially  noteworthy. 
The  best  of  these  is  "Ravko  iz  Rashina."  He  has 
also  published  among  historical  studies  "Gjouradj 
Brankovich"  and  "The  Conquest  of  Constanti- 
nople." 

The  list  of  Servian  historians  includes  Miloutino- 
vich,  "History  of  Montenegro"  (1835)  and  "History 
of  Servia  in  1813-1815";  Pavle  Yovanovich,  "His- 
tory of  the  Important  Events  in  Servia  from  1459  to 
1813";  A.  Stoyatchkovich,  "History  of  the  Eastern 
Slavonic  Church  Service"  and  "Sketches  of  the  Life 
of  the  Serb  People  in  Hungary";  Milorad  Medako- 
vich,  "History  of  Montenegro";  Danilo  Medako- 
vich,  "History  of  the  Servian  People";  N.  Krstich, 
Panta  Sretchkovich,  "History  of  the  Servians,"  in 
two  volumes;  Yovan  Ristich,  late  Prime  Minister 
and  Regent  for  Prince,  afterward  King  Milan, 
"Diplomatic  History  of  Servia  in  1875-78,"  in  two 
volumes;  D.  Rouvaratz,  M.  Yakshich,  N.  Petro- 
vich,  M.  Vesnich,  Servian  Minister  in  Paris,  M. 
Spalkoaivich,  Servian  Minister  in  London,  Lyouba 
Kovatchevich,  Lyouba  Yovanovich,  M.  Gavrilovich, 
Chief  Librarian  of  the  State  Archives,  and  St. 
Stanoyevich,  the  author  of  half  a  dozen  studies  in 
Servian  history  which  he  wrote  in  the  Servian,  Ger- 
man, and  Russian  languages.     Among  these  is  his 


LITERATURE  381 

political  and  diplomatic  history  of  the  Servians, 
recently  published.  M.  Vlainatz  is  the  author  of 
various  historical,  economical,  and  legal  studies.  M. 
Gj.  Militchevich,  of  ethnographic  studies;  V.  Bogi- 
shich,  of  studies  of  the  Slavonic,  especially  the 
South-Slavonic  customary  laws,  and  a  codification  of 
the  civil  and  penal  laws  of  Montenegro. 

Gjouro  Danitchich  (who  died  in  1882)  was  a 
younger  lieutenant  of  Karadjich.  His  chief  works 
were  a   "Servian   Grammar"     1850),   a   "Syntax" 

1858  .  a  '•Dictionary  of  Old  Servian  Literature," 
"History  of  Forms  in  the  Servian  Language," 
"Roots  and  Construction  of  Servian  Words,"  and 
his  monumental  life-work  the  "Historical  and  Criti- 
cal Dictionary  of  the  Servian  or  <  Iroal  Language." 

At  the  head  of  all  living  Servian  historians  is 
Stoyan  Novakovich,  a  pupil  of  Gjouro  Danitchich. 
Stat. -Miian  as  well  as  scholar,  he  has  been  Prime 
Minister  of  Servia  several  times  and  is  presidenl  of 
the  Servian  Academy  of  Science.  His  early  publica- 
tions included  a  "Servian  Grammar"  and  other 
linguistic  studies,  and  he  published  in  1869  the  •>IIi>- 
tory  of  Servian  Literature"  and  "Servian  Bibli- 
ography from  1741  tO  186*3  and  from  1868  to  is:';." 
"Early  Literature  Written  in  Paleo-Slovene  and 
Serbo-Slovene,"  a  "History  of  t1  -  nan  St 
from  the  Tenth  to  the  Twelfth  Centuries,"  "Old 
Servian  Heraldry,"  "Servians  and  'Lurks  in  the 
Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  Centuries,"  ''The  Last  of 
the  Brankovich's  in  History  and  National  Soul:/'  a 

•Critical    Examination    of    the    Serbian    National 
Pesmas,"  and  an  edition  of  the  original  epic  "B 


388  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

sovo,"  with  the  later  additions  expurgated  by  phil- 
ological means.  Novakovich  has  also  published 
many  other  historical  studies  and  a  modern  edition 
of  the  "Zakonik  Tzara  Doushana." 

The  Archimandrite  Illarion  Rouvaratz  was  a 
critic  of  history  whose  work,  with  all  the  defects  of 
its  virtues,  is  precious  to  Servian  students.  Of  vast 
erudition  and  sharply  scientific  genius,  zealous  and 
jealous  for  truthful  exactitude,  it  was  said  of  him 
that  his  pen  bit  its  way  in  with  acid.  On  the  specu- 
lative subject  as  to  final  Servian  mastery  of  their 
perilous  position  in  the  midst  of  crushing  forces,  he 
said:  "If  the  man  is  of  wood,  he  is  shattered;  if  of 
iron,  he  is  bent — and  stays  bent;  if  he  is  of  steel,  he 
will  be  bent  this  way  and  that,  but  ever  springs 
straight  again.  It  is  for  the  Servians  to  prove 
whether  there  are  more  men  among  them  of  wood, 
of  iron,  or  of  steel."  ' 

To  enumerate  men  who  have  won  distinction  in 
the  sciences :  the  name  of  a  Servian  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  renowned  throughout  Europe  as  a  mathe- 
matician, physicist,  astronomer,  and  philosopher,  is 
Ruggiero  Boshkovich,  used  as  reference  by  Herbert 
Spencer;  Yovan  Zhouyovich,  geologist,  published 
in  1884,  in  French,  in  Paris  his  notable  petrogra- 
phic  study  of  the  rocks  of  the  Cordilleras  moun- 
tains. He  afterward  made  the  geological  survey 
of  Servia,  published  at  Belgrade.     Yosip  Pantchich, 

1  That  remark  was  made  in  1894,  at  Easter-time,  to  the  author,  who 
treasures  the  remembrance  of  weeks  passed  at  the  monastery  of  Grgetek, 
in  Syrmia,  as  the  guest  of  the  venerable  scholar  and  monk  who,  for  all  his 
severity,  was  yet  deeply  revered  and  dearly  loved  by  the  people  around 
about. 


LITERATURE  389 

naturalist,  famed  in  Europe,  whose  name  is  attached 
to  several  botanical  and  zoological  specimens,  was 
born  in  1814  and  died  in  1888.  Sima  Lozanich 
was  a  well-known  chemical  analyst.  Mathemati- 
cians of  European  distinction,  having  published 
works  in  German,  French,  and  Servian,  are  Lyuba 
EQerich,  I).  Neshich,  and  1).  Stojanovich;  Prof.  N. 
I.  Stamenkovich,  known  for  his  hydrotechnical 
studies,  also  invented  an  arithmometer  for  calculat- 
ing the  dimensions  of  the  water  sections  of  a  canal 
or  river.1  Branislav  Petroniyevich  is  known  both  in 
Europe  and  America  as  a  philosophical  thinker  of 
great  value.  Roth  sides  of  the  world  likev.  ise  know  the 
works   of   geological,  iphical,  and  ethnological 

research  by  iovan  Cviyich.  At  Columbia  University, 
New  York,  is  M.  I.  Pupin,  of  Servian  origin,  a  well- 
known  professor  of  electro-mechanics.  Added  to 
these  i-  tie-  Servian  Nicola  Tesla,  a  famous  explorer 

in    electrical    science,  whose   Conceptions   and   discov- 

eries  of  principles,  hurrying  him  ever  forward  with- 
out always  a   halt   for  their  material  realisation  in 

concrete  inventions,  have  been  highly  suggestive  to 
an  age  of  powerful  electricians. 

Among  the  Servian  scientific  periodical  publica- 
tion^ are:  Glastllk,  organ  of  the  Society  of  Servian 
Scientists,  in  two  parts,  containing  seventy-five  and 
fifteen  volumes  respectively;  the  Glas,  from  1887  to 
1908,  represented  in  sixty-two  volumes;  the  Spo- 
menik,  from  1888  up  to  the  present  time  the  organ  of 

1  At  the  author's  request,  Professor  Stamenkovich,  aided  by  Servian 
engineers,  has  made  the  preliminary  surveys  and  prepared  the  plans  and 
project  for  a  ::•"■  "way  to  connect  the  Danube  and  the  ^Egean  Sea 

through  Servia  and  Turkey. 


390  THE   SERVIAN  PEOPLE 

the  Royal  Servian  Academy  of  Science;  the  Srbski 
Knyizhevni  Glasnik,  the  Letopis,  in  three  hundred 
volumes,  published  at  Novi-Sad  by  the  "Matitza 
Srbska";  the  Otachbina,  in  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
nine  volumes,  published  at  Belgrade;  and  the  Go- 
dishnitza  Nicola  Tchoupitcha,  in  twenty-one  volumes. 
The  oldest  Servian  newspapers  still  being  published 
are  the  official  Srbslce  Novine,  founded  at  Belgrade 
in  1834,  and  the  Zastava,  at  Novi-Sad,  founded  by 
Miletich  fifty- two  years  ago. 

New  Serbo-Croat  Literature 

The  modern  Serbo-Croat  literature  dates  from 
1830,  when  the  reawakening  of  the  Servian  and 
Croatian  national  sentiment  took  place  and  when 
the  tendency  toward  a  unification  began  to  be  felt. 
Its  founder  was  Lyudevit  Gaj  (pronounced  Gayhe), 
Who  was  born  at  Krapina,  in  Croatia,  in  1809,  and 
who  died  in  1872. 

What  Karadjich  did  for  the  reform  and  simpli- 
fication of  Servian  orthography  in  Cyrillic  characters 
used  by  the  people  of  eastern,  central,  and  southern 
parts  of  the  great  Serb  Block  of  territory,  Lyudevit 
Gaj  did  for  the  Latin  alphabet  and  spelling  as  used 
by  Croatians  in  the  west.  He  based  his  reforms  on 
various  accentual  signs  adopted  from  the  Tcheks. 
Gaj  was  also  the  moving  spirit  in  the  Serbo-Croat 
renascence  that  was  centring  at  Zagreb— Agram. 
He  and  his  friends,  like  his  eastern  Servian  brother 
Karadjich  and  his  co-workers,  were  inspired  by 
the  ideal  of  bringing  the  broken  and  crushed  ruins 


LITERATURE  391 

of  the  race  into  structural  form  and  unity.  In  the 
same  sense  a  Slovack,  Ian  Kollar,  had  stirred  all 
young  Serbs  as  well  as  Slovacks  with  his  poem 
"Slaw  Dcera"  ("Daughter  of  Glory").  After  sev- 
eral works  published  in  Serbo-Croat,  German,  and 
Latin,  Lyudevit  Gaj  launched  out  in  the  publication 
at  Zagreb,  in  1835,  of  a  newspaper,  Hrvaiske  Xo- 
vine,  giving  political  news,  with  a  literary  supplement 
called  DanUssa  [Morning  Star). 

Lack  of  space  prevents  the  discussion  of  the  ap- 
pearance  and  interesting  development  of  "Ulyrian- 
ism,"  a  name  of  which  Gaj  and  his  fellow-workers 
undertook  for  a  shorl  while  to  make  a  unifying  sym- 
bol. It  is  sufficient  to  recall  the  decree,  in  1843,  of  the 
Austrian  Emperor  Ferdinand,  forbidding  the  words 
"Illyrian,  Illyriani>m,  or  Qlyria"  to  be  used  either 
in  newspapers,  printed  works,  debates,  or  schools, 
etc.  It  i>  important  to  note,  however,  thai  through 
the  efforts  of  Lyudevil  Gaj,  Vouk  Stephanovich  Ka- 
radjich's  restoration  of  the  pure  Servian  tongue  as 
spoken  by  the  people  and  as  used  in  the  works  of  old 

Servian  writers  was  also  adopted  by  the  Croatians. 
The  result  of  this  Uniform  acceptance  is  that  at  the 
presenl  time  there  remains  only  the  slightest  sec- 
tional variation  in  the  speech  of  all  the  different  Serb 
lands.  In  addition  to  the  newspapers  published  by 
( raj,  he  wrote  many  books  all  to  the  same  end.  Some 
of  them  were  text-books  which  were  adopted  by  the 
Serbian  schools. 

One  of  the  effects  of  the  work  of  Karadjich, 
Gaj,  and  other  ardent  spirits  of  that  new  dawn  was 
the  advent  of  the  enlightened  idea  among  Serbs  of 


392  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

keeping  religious  differences  apart  from  national 
considerations.  In  violation  of  Christ's  teachii 
priests  and  churches  had  long  been  made  the  ig- 
norant means,  by  the  stirring  up  of  religious  strife  in 
regions  where  Roman  Catholics  were  numerous,  of 
strengthening  a  foreign  domination  over  men  of 
Servian  race. 

However,  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
the  advocation  of  union  between  co-nationals  who 
differed  in  regard  to  ecclesiastical  allegiance  found  a 
friend,  and  almost  a  martyr,  in  Archbishop  Stross- 
mayer  of  Croatia,  a  high  soul  caring  only  for  truth. 
A  devotee  of  art  and  learning,  a  lover  of  Christ  and  of 
human  beings,  admired  by  the  greatest  of  European 
statesmen,  he  deserves  always  to  be  remembered  by 
Serbs  for  his  work,  carried  on  in  spite  of  severe  dis- 
cipline from  Rome  and  Vienna. 

At  his  own  expense  Archbishop  Strossmayer 
founded  the  famous  library  and  museum  which 
are  now  the  pride  of  Zagreb.  In  connection  with  the 
museum  is  a  picture  gallery  given  by  him  and  an 
art  school.  He  was  also  the  chief  founder  of  the 
Yougo-Slovenska  Academia  (South-Slavonic  Academy 
of  Science)  and  the  Croatian  University. 

During  the  inception  and  progress  of  these  works 
bringing  into  the  field  every  possible  auxiliary  of  his 
authority  and  the  force  of  the  funds  he  commanded, 
he  waged  a  ceaseless  campaign  aimed  at  inducing 
Servian  Christians,  both  Catholic  and  Orthodox,  to 
be  no  longer  the  victims  of  religious  dissensions,  but 
to  be  united  as  brothers  in  their  common  cause  of 
nationality.     In  these  aims  this  great  Roman  Catho- 


LITERATURE  393 

lie  of  Serbo-Germanic  origin  showed  himself  to  be  a 
true  Serb  and  a  true  Christian. 

Am  Serbo-Croal  writers  in  addition  to  Gaj 
were  the  lyric  poet  Stanko  Vraz  L810  •">!  i,  who 
wrote  "Gjoulabye"  and  "Gouzla  i  Tamboura"; 
the  patriotic  pod  Dragoutin  Rakovatz  1813  93  ; 
Lyudevil  Voukotinovich  L81S  03  .  author  of  "Py- 
esme  i  Pripovetke"  and  "Ruzhe  i  Trnye";  and 
Mirko  Bogovich  (1816  93  .  with  his  songs,  "Lyu- 
bice,"  his  political  poem-,  "Domorodni  glasi,"  his 
dramas,  "Frankopan,"  'Matiash  Gubetz,"  etc. 
Other  writers  were  Dimitri  Demeter  1MI  72  ;  Evan 
de  Taruski  born  in  1819  ,  the  lyric  dramatist;  and 
the  Bhort-story  tellers  Evan  Koukoulyevich  1M<; 
B9  .  Ivan  Yourkovich  ls-7  89  .  and  Ivan  Mazu- 
ranich  isl 3  90  ,  who  replaced  the  losl  songs  in 
the  poem  '"(  Km.- m."  by  Goundoulich,  and  wrote  the 
epi<-  "Smii  Small  aghe Tchenghicha."  The  greatesl 
Croatian  lyric  poet  w;i>  Colonel  Petar  Preradovich 
1818  ;  I  .     ;, fines!  poem  is  "Poutnik"    "The 

Wanderer"  .      The  other  writers  of  drama  and  short 

stories  were  [van  Djezman  1841  73  .  J.  E.  Tomich 
born  in  1843  ,  F.  Markovich  (born  in  1845  .  E. 
Koumitchich  (born  in  1850  .  and  .1.  Kozaratz  (born 
in  1858  .  The  authors  of  lyric  poetry,  aovels,  and 
plays  were  Aug.  Shenoa  St.  Genois  1838  Bl  . 
Gjouro  Arnold  born  in  1851  ,  Ksavei  Shandor  Gjal- 
>ki,  Silviye  Kranjevich,  Michael  Nikolich  (born  in 
1878  .  M.  Begovich  "Xeres  de  la  Afaraja"  .  A. 
Tresich-Pavitchich,  S.  de  Miletich  (born  in  1868  . 
Srdjan  Toutchich,  [vo  Voynovich,  Yanko  Leskovatz 
(born  in  1861  .  A.  Matosh,  etc. 


394  THE  SERVIAN    PEOPLE 

Rad  jugoslovenke  akademije  is  the  organ  of  the 
Yougo-Slovenska  Academia  (South-Slavonic  Academy 
of  Science),  founded  in  1866,  the  president  of  which 
was  for  a  long  time  the  Croat  historian  Franyo  Etat- 

chki  (1825-94).  The  most  renowned  Slavonic  phil- 
ologist at  present  living  is  the  Serbo-Croat  Vatroslav 
Iagich  (born  in  1838),  editor  of  the  "Archives  for 
Slawische  Philologie."  He  long  occupied  the  chair 
of  Slavonic  Philology  at  the  universities  of  Vienna 
and  Berlin.  He  is  renowned  for  his  researches  in 
philology,  archaeology,  and  literature. 

Belonging  also  to  the  same  group  are  the  historian 
Shima  Lyubich  (1822-96),  Vyekoslav  Klaich,  who 
wrote  a  "History  of  the  Croats"  (1898),  and  (he 
encyclopaedist  Boguslav  Shoulek  (1816-95).  Liter- 
ary researches  have  been  made  by  A.  Pavich,  Peter 
Matkovich,  Lyudevit  Voukotinovich,  etc. ;  researches 
in  ethnography  and  language  by  Franyo  Kourelatz 
(1811-74). 

In  Dalmatia  were  the  patriotic  and  historic 
writers,  Knez  Medo  Poutchich  (1821-82),  Anton 
Kazali  (1815-94),  and  Yovan  Soundetchich  (1825- 
1900),  and  the  dramatist  Matya  Ban  (1818-1903), 
whose  works  still  being  played  are  "Meryima"  and 
'Tzar  Lazar."  At  Ragusa  a  literary  paper  is  pub- 
lished called  the  Slovinac.  The  newspapers,  maga- 
zines, and  other  periodicals  published  in  Serbo- 
Croat  are  too  numerous  to  chronicle. 


POPULAB    EPICS   AM)    LYRICS       395 


5,     PHE  SI.KVIW     \\I)(i;o\l    I'ul'ILAREPICAXDLYRIC 

I'ul.l  \:\ 

The  greatesl  poetic  treasure  of  the  Servian  people 
is  round  in  those  epic  songs  and  popular  lyrics,  tales, 
and  sayings  which,  unwritten  during  centuries,  were 
handed  down  from  father  to  son,  from  mother  to 
daughter.  Goethe  has  compared  the  greal  cycles  of 
these  Servian  epics  to  the  "Iliad"  and  the  "Odys- 
Some  of  the  epic  date  from  before  the 

Turkish  invasion.  They  are  naive,  full  of  rough 
force  mingled  with  homeliness,  Oriental  fire,  and  a 
Greek  plastic  quality.  Sunn-  sho^  traces  of  the  old 
Servian  mythology.  Others,  especially  the  greal 
epics,  belong  to  the  period  of  invasion,  when  Adri- 
anople  was  the  Sultan's  Capital.  Still  others  are 
more  modern,  and  even  to-day  such  epics  and  songs 
are  composed  on  events  of  the  time,  both  grave  and 
gay,  by  unknown  bards  of  the  people. 

The  heroic  epics  gather  principally  around  the 
battle  "ii  Kossovo  field  and  the  lasl  of  the  Servian 
Tsars,  Lazar  Qrebelianovich,  and  the  personality 
and  knightly  exploits  of  Marko  Kralyevich.  These 
two  cycles  are  complete.  There  are  also  fragments 
of  series  of  on  Doushan  the  Emperor,  Milosh 

Obilich,  hero  of  Kossovo,  and  many  other  heroes, 
Servian  rulers,  and  historic  events  dear  to  the  mem- 
ory of  the  people.  All  of  the  Servian  risings  and 
the  prowess  of  the  Elaydouks  have  been  chronicled 
and  chanted  in  song,     ever  and  ever  resung. 

The   Servian    epics   are  always   chanted,   accom- 


396  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

panied  by  the  Gouzla.  They  are  recitatives  in 
rhythmic  declamation;  the  motif  of  the  melody  sug- 
gested is  fragmentary  and  runs  within  three  or  four 
notes.  Each  note  is  divided  into  fractions  of  tones, 
fixed  in  the  execution  and  learned  by  ear,  which 
cannot  be  transcribed  on  the  modern  musical  staff. 
The  cadences  are  grave  and  evocative,  droning,  yet 
vibrating  as  if  on  human  heartstrings.  The  Servian 
heroic  epics  have  a  verse-line  of  ten  syllables  with 
the  csesura  after  the  fourth  syllable,  the  line  being 
without  any  fixed  fall  or  tonality.  O.  Ilauser  says 
that  the  verse  form  of  the  Servian  epic  is  very  nearly 
related  to  the  verse-line  called  the  "Spentamanyu" 
line  of  the  "Avesta"  ("Zend)"  of  the  Old  Persians. 
The  epics  of  the  Croats  deal  with  the  same  historical 
subjects  and  episodes  as  do  those  of  the  Servians,  but 
there  is  a  slight  difference  in  the  verse-line,  which  has 
fifteen  syllables,  with  the  caesura  after  the  seventh,  and 
often  has  a  refrain.  The  Croatian  epic  was  rich  in 
the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  but  is  now 
entirely  disappearing. 

When  Karadjich  first  collected  and  printed  the 
cyclus  entitled,  in  his  first  edition  (in  1818),  "Laza- 
ritza,"  he  wrote:  "The  bards  who  sang  these  rhapso- 
dies called  them  the  'Songs  of  Knez  Lazar,  or  the 
Battle  of  Kossovo.'  Later  they  were  published 
under  the  title  of  'Cyclus  of  the  Battle  of  Kossovo." 

In  Stoyan  Novakovich's  edition,  in  which  he  aims 
at  exactitude  of  ancient  form,  the  songs  are: 

I.  Knez  Lazar  Builds  His  Memorial  Church  at 
Ravanitza. 


POPULAB  EPICS  AND   LYRICS       S97 

II.  The  Turks  on  Kossovo  Plain. 

III.  Sultan  Muurad  Sends  His  Challenge  to  Tsar 

Lazar. 

IV.  Tsarina  Militza  Asks  of  Tsar  Lazar  that  One 

of  Her  Brothers  Should  Remain  with  Her 
at  Kroushevatz. 
V.  Tsar  Lazar  Chooses  the  Heavenly  Kingdom. 
VI.  The    Maiden    of    Kossovo    and    the   Servian 

Hero 
VII.  Milosh  ObiUch  Inquires  His  Way  to  the  Turk- 
ish ( lamp. 
VIII.  The   Quarrel    between   Milosh    Obilich   and 
Vouk  Brankovich. 
IX.  The  Battle  of  Kossovo. 
X.  Stephan  \    -      evich. 
XI.  News  from  the  Battle  of  Kossovo. 
XII.  The  Maiden  of  Kossovo. 

XIII.     The    I  > « • .  1 1 1 1    Of  the    YoUgOViches'    Mother. 

XI\.  Sanctification  of  Tsar  Lazar. 

The  following  are  literal    translations   rendering 
tin-  verse-line  of  ten  syllables  as  well  as  possible  of 

BOngS  V  and  XIII : 

Song  V 
Tsah  Lazab  Chooses  the  Heavenly  Kingdom 

The  original  begins: 

"  Polctio  -»k'»  tit-a  Mva 
'  <  I  I  svetinye  <>'l  Yenisalima 
'*  I  oo  nod  titsu  lastavit 
"To  oe  I>i<>  Boko  titsa  Biva" 


398  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

Flying  comes  a  gray-like  bird,  a  falcon, 
From  the  Holy  City,  Jerusalem, 
And  a  little  swallow  seems  to  carry — 
— No,  'tis  not  a  gray  bird,  not  the  falcon, 
But  it  is  the  Holy  Saint  Elijah 
And  no  little  swallow  is  he  bringing, 
But  a  letter  from  God's  Blessed  Mother, 
He  bears  it  to  the  Tsar  on  Kossovo, 
And  on  his  knees  the  letter  he  lets  drop, 
The  missive  of  itself  began  to  speak: 

"O  Tsar  Lazar,  thou  of  glorious  line, 

"Between  two  Empires  which  one  wilt  thou  choose? 

"Dost  thou  desire  the  Kingdom  most  of  God? 

"Or  dost  thou  choose  the  Empire  of  this  World  ? 

"If  the  earthly  Empire  most  thou  lovest, 

"Saddle  the  horses!   tighten  well  the  girths! 

"And  forthwith  let  thy  knights  their  swords  gird  on. 

"Then  forward!   Storm  the  Turks,  make  your  assault! 

"The  Turkish  army  all,  shall  be  brought  low. 

"But  if  the  Heav'nly  Kingdom  thou  dost  choose, 

"Then  fashion  thou  a  Church  on  Kossovo, 

"Not  of  marble  its  foundations  tracing, 

"Only,  of  purest  silk  and  scarlet  build; 

"There  eat  Christ's  Bread,  thy  warriors  prepare, 

"For  thy  whole  army  will  destruction  find, 

"And  thou,  too,  Prince, — with  it,  thou  wilt  perish." 

And  when  the  Tsar  had  listened  to  those  words, 
The  Tsar  the  question  ponders  o'er  and  o'er: 
"Dear  God,  what  shall  I  answer,  how  decide? 
"Upon  which  Kingdom  shall  I  set  my  choice — 
"Shall  I  most  desire  the  Heavn'ly  Kingdom? 
"Or,  shall  I  choose  an  Empire  of  this  world? 
"If  that  I,  in  choosing  either  Kingdom, 
"Should  earthly  Empire  above  all,  desire — 
"The  earthly  Kingdom  is  a  little  thing; 
" — God's  Kingdom  is  forever  and  for  aye." 


POPULAR    EPK  -   AND   LYRICS       399 

Th«-  Tsar  wilTd  for  the  Kingdom  of  the  Lord, 
Rather  than  the  Crown  of  worldly  Empire. 
Then  on  Kossovo  a  Church  he  fashioned, 
Not  of  Marble  <li<l  he  lay  its  stones, 
But  of  finest  Mlk  ;in<l  scarlet  built  it. 
Then  he  <;ill««l  the  Patriarch  of  Servians, 
And  twelve  great  Bishops  thither  brought, 
The  knightly  ranks  receive  the  Sacred  Host, 
And  hold  them  ready  t<»  await  th<-  Turk-. 

Of  this  song  the  famous  Polish  poet  Adam  Mitski- 
yevich  said,  in  February,  1841,  in  a  lecture  to  the 
College  de  Prance  on  the  subject  of  the  Servian 
cyclus  of  rhapsodies:  "The  Christian  idea  was 
never  in  verse  expressed  so  beautifully  and  directly, 
vet  with  its  full  mysticism,  as  in  this  song." 


Song  XIII 
Tin.  Death  01    phe  Yougoviches'  Mother 
The  original  begins: 

Mili  B<>/li<-  Tchouda  velii 
k.i'l  m  slezhe  na  Kosovo  voyska 
On  toye  voystsi  devet  Ybugovicha 
I  deseti  star  Youzhe  Bogdane 
Bo^r;i  mob'  Yougovicha  mayka 
I  ).i  yoy  Bog  <la  t>t<  hi  sokolove 

God  adored!     What  a  mighty  wonder — 

When  the  army  on  Kossovo  gathered! 

In  that  army,  nin<-  were  sons  of  Yougo, 

And  truth  was  old  Bogdan,  great  Ybug  Bogdan. 

The  Yougoviches'  mother  prayed  of  God, 


400 


THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

That  the  eyes  of  falcons'  God  would  give  her, 

And  white  wings  of  the  swan,  she  prayed  He'd  give, 

That  she  might  fly  to  far  Kossovo  Plain. 

And  might  see  there  the  nine  Yougovichea 

With  them,  the  tenth,  the  great  old  Youg  Bogdan. 

What  the  mother  prayed  for,  that  God  gave  her: 
Eyes  of  the  falcon,  He  did  give  to  her, 
And  to  her  gave,  the  while  wings  of  the  swan. 
She  flies  away  to  far  Kossovo  Plain. 

Dead,  she  finds,  there,  the  Yougovichea  nine. 
And  tenth  of  them,  old  Youg  Bogdan  lay  (had! 
Above  them  stood,  nine  spears  of  warriors; 
On  the  spears,  there  were  nine  falcons  silting; 
Round  about  the  spears,  were  nine  fine  horses, 
And  close  to  these,  there  stay'd  fierce  lions  nine. 
The  nine  war-steeds,  they  then  began  to  neigh. 
The  fearsome  lions  nine,  to  snarl  and  roar, 
While  the  falcons,  all  the  nine  were  screaming. 
But  that  mother's  heart  set  hard  like  stone, 
And  from  that  heart  no  tear  fell  down. 

Instead,  she  takes  the  nine  good  horses  there, 
The  nine  grim  lions  too,  she  takes  with  her, 
Along  with  them  she  takes  the  falcons  nine, 
And  to  her  Castel  white,  she  then  goes  back. 

Her  sons'  dear  wives  espy  her  from  afar, 
And  hasten  forth  to  meet  her  on  the  way. 
Those  widowed  nine  bewept  and  wailed  their  dead, 
Nine  children,  fatherless,  did  cry  and  sob. 


But  even  there,  the  mother's  heart  was  hard, 
So  hard  that  heart,  that  from  it  no  tear  fell. 
When  darkness  came,  and  when  it  was  midnight, 


POPULAR  EPICS   AND    LYRICS       401 

Damian'a  white  horse,  restive  grew  and  neighed, 
The  mother  asks  of  Damian's  love  bereaved, 
•()  love  of  my  dear  Damian,  daughter  min<\ 
"Why  does  Damian's  white  horse  neigh  bo  to  us? 
"Is  he  hungry  to  be  fed  with  white  wheat, 
"Or  does  he  thirst  to  drink  of  Svetchan's  spring?*1 
The  wife  beloved  of  Damian  answered  her, 
•  Mother  of  Damian,  mother  of  mine, 
"He  is  ii"i  hungry  for  the  wheat  bo  white, 
"Neither  thirsts  for  water  of  Svetchan's  spring, 
•■For  well  his  master,  Damian.  taught  him, 

I  ,  ,  ,i  big  oats  till  midnight,  and  munch  fine, 
■   n„ii  half  the  night  to  travel  on  the  road. 
"He  no*  is  grieving  f<>r  thai  master  dear, 
"Thai  «'ii  his  back  he  broughl  him  not  again." 
But  the  mother's  heart  was  still  like  stone, 
And  from  that  heart  ao  dry  no  tear  did  drip. 

When  it  was  light,  the  hour  of  new-born  day. 

Tu.,  vultures  come  a-flying,  raven  Mack. 

With  blood  they're  smear'd  from  shoulder  unto  win-. 

Their  l"-aks  an-  white  with  foam  of  battening: 

They  carry  a  dead  hand,  a  hero's  hand. 

And  on  that  hand  there  glows  a  wedding-ring. 

Into  the  mother's  lap  they  throw  it. 

The  Yougoviches'  mother  lift-  the  hand. 

Turn-  and  turns  it.  over  and  over  again, 

Then,  beck'ning,  saya  to  Damian's  widowed  love: 

I  daughter  mine,  beloved  of  Damian. 

••  \Yould-t  thou  know  to  say  whose  hand  is  this? 
•« — o  mother  mine,  mother  of  Damian, 

•'Von  is  the  hand  of  OUT  own  Damian! 

That  marriage-ring  I  know  full  well,  mother. 
"Thai  rin^'  was  with  me  on  my  wedding-day!" 

Then  Damian's  mother  takes  the  hand  up. 
Turns  it  over.  -trok«>  it.  and  play-  with  it- 
Whisp"rin<:  to  the  hand,  she  stammers  starkly: 


402  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

«_My  hand— my  dear,  dear  hand— my  green  apple! 
"Where   didst   thou   grow — and    where    hast    thou    been 

plucked  ? 
"Here  in  my  lap— 'tis  here— that  thou  didst  grow! 
"Torn  from  the  tree  wert  thou — on  Kossovo!" 
That  sob  of  death,  lightly  her  soul  set  free. 

This  poem  is  not  only  a  song  of  the  human  heart, 
but  is  also  considered  to  be  an  allegory  of  the  nine 
Nemanya  Kings — their  mother,  the  old  Servian 
Kingdom. 

Philip  Vishnyich,  a  blind  "Gouzlar"  or  bard, 
born  in  Bosnia  in  1767,  possessed  a  phenomenal 
memory  in  which  he  stored,  as  in  a  library,  the  whole 
mass  of  the  old  Servian  epics,  ballads,  and  people's 
songs.  When  the  insurrection  of  1804  broke  out  he 
left  Bosnia  and  came  to  Servia  and  sang  in  the  camps 
of  the  Servian  soldiers.  He  was  the  poetic  embodi- 
ment of  those  wars.  He  himself  composed,  inspi- 
rationally  in  the  camps,  chanting  it  as  he  then  created 
it  from  the  fire  of  the  Servian  soul,  the  finest  modern 
Servian  epic.  Afterward,  when  the  day  was  won,  the 
first  work  to  issue  from  the  Belgrade  printing-press 
was  that  battle-poem  of  the  "Revolt." 

Vouk  Karadjich  and  Sima  Miloutinovich  were 
among  those  who  listened  to  the  blind  singer  around 
the  bivouac  fires,  and  were  deeply  stirred  to  action 
and  resolve  which  later  bore  immortal  fruit  to  the 
nation. 

The  lyrics,  as  melodies  accompanied  by  words  or 
dancing  or  by  words  and  dancing,  are  found  among 
Servians  not  only  in  the  villages  but  in  the  towns. 


POPULAR   EPICS   AND   LYRICS       403 

Some  <>f  these  are  so  old  that  their  first  singers  are 
unknown.  There  are  new  ones  which  spring  up 
like  the  wild  flowers  of  the  field — sown  by  the  wind 
or  an  unknown  hand  coming  from  nobody  can 
say  where.  The  lyrics  are  love  songs  and  women's 
songs,  the  latter  mostly  composed  by  women  and 
girls.  There  arc  also  drinking  songs  and  chants  of 
marriage,  birth,  ami  death,  cremonials  and  merry- 
making. The  verse-metre  of  these  lyrics  is  gener- 
ally trochaee  and  dactyls. 
Following  is  a  drinking  song  from  the  Shumadia: 

Soko  leti  \iM>k<> 
Shiri  krila  shiroko 

Tra/.lii  locu  viriovu 

Trazhi  vodu  studenu 
Devoj  ka  ga  doziva 
Oil'  ovamo,  >nk'»lt- 
Evo  loze  vinove 
I  .  >.  rode  studene 
Studena  \<-  ka  i  led 
A  Blatka  ye  ka  i  med 
Peeye  brate  peeye 

\  I  ~.-li   >!ii<>  >\  i. 

Literally  translated  in  tli<-  measure  of  the  original: 

High  the  falcon  Hies  in  air. 

Stretches  wide  bis  planing  wings, 

-  •  k>  tin-  vine  with  grapes  for  wine, 

Seeks  the  icy  water-sprii 

Him  tin-  maiden  beckons  near, 
"Hither,  falcon,  come  to  me! 
"Here's  tin-  vine  where  wine-grapes  grow! 
**  Here  i>  water  cool  ami  clear. 


404  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

"Fresh  it  is  and  cold  as  snow, 
"The  grapes  are  sweet  as  honey! 
"Drink!  brother,  drink! 
"Gay  all  are  we!" 


An  Elegy 
A  Woman's  Song  from  South-western  Servia 


The  original  begins: 


Shto  Morava  moutna  tetche  ? 
Da  li  Pasha  konye  poyie, 
II'  Pashina  voyska  brodi? 

Why  does  Morava  flow  troubled  ? 
Do  the  Pasha's  horses  drink  there, 
Or  the  Pasha's  soldiers  cross  it  ? 
Neither  Pasha's  horses  drink  there, 
Nor  the  Pasha's  soldiers  cross  it, 
But  two  sisters  bathing  in  it, 
Olivera  and  Todora, 
In  the  waves  Todora  perished, 
Olivera  gained  the  shore. 

Spoke  the  dead  face  of  the  maiden, 
"Olivera,  O  my  sister. 
"When  thou  goest  to  our  mother, 
"Tell  not  thou  that  mother  sad, 
"That  the  waves  have  closed  above  me, 
"Say  to  her  that  I  am  married. 
"'Tween  two  hills,  my  groomsmen,  am  I, 
"Tween  two  forests,  my  bridesmaidens, 
"And  a  marble  stone,  my  bridegroom, 
"Little  grass  my  lover's  sister, 
"And  for  mother-in-law,  the  sod." 


POPULAR   EPICS   AM)    LYRICS       405 

The  first  collection  of  the  popular  poetry  made  by 
Vouk  Stephanovich  Karadjich,  "Srpske  narodne 
pyesme,"  was  translated  into  many  foreign  languages — 
German,  French,  English,  and  Russian.  In  a  second 
volume  he  published  the  lyrics  and  women's  songs, 
'Srpske  narodne  pyesme  iz  Hercegovine"  (new  edi- 
tion, 1891-190-2,  two  volumes,  Belgrade). 

The  songs  of  the  Bosnians  were  published  by  Bogo- 
lviil>  Petranovich,  Belgrade,  1867—70,  and  Serayevo, 
ISO?;  also  by  Ristich  in  1873.  Raditchevich,  in  1872, 
published  tin-  Montenegrin  songs.  The  Servian  fairy 
talcs  were  published  by  Karadjich,  at  Vienna,  in 
L870,  and  were  republished  at  Belgrade  in  1897, 
the  second  volume,  "  Poslovice"  ("sayings"),  in  1900. 

The  Croat  epics  were  published  by  Miklosich  in 
**  Beitrage  zur  Kenntniss  der  Slavischen  Volks  poesie," 
Vol.  I,  ami  in  "Volks  Epos  der  Kroaten,"  Vienna, 
1S7U.  A  complete  edition  was  made  by  Bogishich, 
"Narodne pyesme  izstariyih  zapisa,"  Belgrade,  1S78; 
also  by  the"Matitza  Brvatska,"  at  Zagreb,  189G -!>:>, 
in  four  volumes. 

Koiikoulyevieh  published  the  folk  songs  of  the 
Kajkavci  in  the  fourth  volume  of  "Razlitchna 
djela,"  Zagreb,  1847.  A  collection  of  fairy  talcs 
was  published  by  M.  Valyevatz,  at  Varasdin,  in  1858, 
and  by  Kourelatz,  at  Zagreb,  in  1871. 

0.  the  fine  a uts 

Students  of  the  early  Servian  periods,  Karitch 
among  others,  have  found  that  the  arts  and  learning  in 
Servia  prior  to  the  Turkish  invasion  in  no  way  ranked 


406  THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

below  those  of  Western  Europe  and  Constantinople. 
As  with  learning,  so  was  it  true  of  the  arts  of  archi- 
tecture, sculpture,  and  painting,  that  they  came  into 
Servia  with  Christianity  through  the  door  of  Byzance. 
Those  arts  were  no  longer  a  living  force  at  Constan- 
tinople, but  were  rather  formulas  of  past  attainment, 
treasured  by  the  few,  a  sealed  book  to  the  vulgar. 

The  oldest  remains  of  Servian  art  date  back  no 
further  than  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries. 


Architecture 

The  Servian  mediaeval  architectural  monuments, 
judged  by  the  few  surviving  remains,  show  an  inter- 
pretation of  Byzantine  style  lofty  in  ideal  and  ele- 
gant in  construction.  The  characteristic  design  of 
a  large  central  cupola  supported  by  four  smaller  ones 
is  often  found  in  Servian  churches  of  the  period, 
whose  exteriors  use  vari-coloured  marbles  and  stones 
sometimes  with  brick,  and  the  interiors,  mural  decora- 
tions of  painting  and  mosaic,  in  the  best  Byzantine 
manner.  Besides  the  constructions  in  pure  Byzan- 
tine style,  there  are  others  modified  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  original  Servian  ideas,  which  seek  inspiration 
from  the  West  as  well  as  from  the  East.  In  some 
cases  the  Servians  based  their  art  solely  on  western 
models,  which  they  developed  with  individual  taste. 
The  finest  architectural  remains  exemplifying  both 
or  either  of  these  manners  are  the  church  and  mon- 
astery of  Detchani,  built  by  King  Stephan  Detchan- 
ski;  the  church  and  monastery  of  Studenitza,  erected 
by   Stephan  Nemanya;  the   Saint   Lazar  Church  at 


ARCHITECTURE  407 

Kroushevatz,  built  by  Tsar  Lazar;  the  church  and 
monastery  of  Lyoubostinya,  built  by  Tsarina  Militza; 

and  the  castle  and  the  church  of  Manassia,  built  by 
Despot  Stephan  Lazarovich.  The  architect  of  some 
of  these  beautiful  churches  was  Rade  Borovich, 
whose  memory  is  honoured  in  many  folk  songs. 

The  castles  and  fortresses  were  constructed  on  the 
Byzantine  system  of  towers  connected  by  walls. 
One  or  sometimes  two  of  these  towers  were  higher 
than  the  others,  and  within  the  walls  was  a  second 
building  with  towers  and  walls  similar  to  the  French 
"Donjon"  (the  place  of  last  defence).  The  castles 
of  the  nobles,  some  of  which  remain  inhabited  in 
Bosnia,  Herzegovina,  Macedonia,  and  Albania,  all 
exhibit  the  same  main  characteristics.  Enclosing  an 
inner  court  i>  an  unbroken  wall  of  buildings  with  a 
large  and  high  tower  at  the  place  of  entrance.  This 
plan  is  followed  in  principle  in  the  architecture  of 
many  monasteries,  with  the  church  in  the  court. 
Such  arc  the  monasteries  of  Mount  Athos  and  Stude- 
nitza.  Manassia  i-  a  true  castle,  with  towers  and 
walls  enclosing  the  church. 

In  the  building  of  other  public  works — bridges, 
roads,  etc.,  some  of  which  are  still  in  good  use,  the 
Serbs  followed  the  methods  and  construction  which 
they  found  in  the  early  Roman  remains. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  the 
architecture  was  unfortunately  an  imported  bastard 
renaissance  of  the  ugliest  type.  At  present  a  new 
generation  of  architects  who  have  studied  in  the 
great  art  centres  of  the  world  have  submitted  plans 
for  public  buildings,  of  beautiful  and  original  design, 


408  THE    SERVIAN   PEOPLE 

suggestive  of  a  development  of  mediaeval   Servian 
architecture. 

Sculpture 

The  Byzantine  style  as  used  in  the  churches  by 
the  Orthodox  Church  admitted  no  statues.  No 
free  scope  or  inspiration,  therefore,  was  offered  to 
the  sculptor  such  as  brought  forth  the  wonders  in 
marble  of  the  Phidian  period  in  Greece.  The 
Servian  sculptors,  however,  studied  in  Italy,  and 
many  of  them,  in  the  decorations  on  the  Servian 
churches  and  monasteries,  broke  loose  from  strict 
Byzantine  tradition  and  wrought  many  beautiful 
conceptions  in  high  and  low  relief,  which  they  used 
in  representing  saints  and  heraldic  and  symbolic  ani- 
mals, especially  over  the  doors  and  windows.  The 
finest  examples  of  this  are  in  Saint  Lazar's  Church 
at  Kroushevatz,  Studenitza,  and  the  monastery  of 
Kalenitch.  In  Ragusa  and  along;  the  eastern  shores 
and  islands  of  the  Adriatic,  where  the  Latin  Church 
prevailed,  there  are  very  beautiful  sculptural  remains. 

Modern  Servian  sculpture  is  showing  development 
in  some  good  works.  Those  of  Pay  a  Iovanovich 
exhibited  in  Paris  salons  have  won  prizes.  Other 
young  sculptors  are  beginning  to  attract  serious  at- 
tention in  Paris,  Rome,  and  London,  where  works 
of  S.  Roksandich  and  George  Iovanovich  have  re- 
ceived high  praise. 

Painting 

The  old  Servian  painting  was  bound  under  By- 
zantine   traditions.    Nevertheless,    there    are    some 


MUSIC    AND   THE    DRAMA  409 

portraits  of  rulers  and  other  individuals  painted 
in  the  churches  which  show  character  in  expression 
and  evident  truth  to  life.  Many  others  follow  Byzan- 
tine methods.  A  great  place  belongs  to  all  these 
painters,  among  Old  Servian  artists,  who  painted  in 
Venice,  Florence,  and  other  parts  of  Italy,  many  of 
whose  names,  from  Carpaccio  to  the  modest  painters 
who  were  content  to  sign  their  works  simply  "Schia- 
vone"  the  Slav),  make  part  of  the  glory  of  the 
Italian  Renascence. 

The  foremost  among  modern  Servian  painters  is 
Paya  [ovanovich  (see  frontispiece),  Voukanovich, 
Krstich  Markovich,  Todorovich,  Milovanovich,  Mu- 
ral, Predich,  Knezhevicb  Potchek,  Tchobayitch  and 
Lallich,  have  also  won  recognition.  Danilovatz  is 
the  best  known  among  engravers  and  etchers.  These 
artists  were  born  in  the  different  regions  of  the  Serb 
Block,  and  have  like  most  other  modern  painters  gone 
for  technique  to  Paris,  though  in  the  subjects  they  have 
painted  they  have  generally  sought  inspiration  in  their 
own  national  history  or  in  scenes  in  their  own  lands. 

7.    MUSIC    AM)   THE    DRAMA 

All  that  remains  of  old  Servian  music  is  found  in 
the  Servianised  church  music  and  that  of  the  old 
folk  songs.  The  musician,  Cornelius  Stankovich, 
collected  and  transcribed  in  the  modern  musical 
staff  that  old  church  music  and  the  people's  melodies. 

The  melodies  of  the  love  songs  are  of  slow  and  lan- 
guorous rhythm,  the  notes  not  exceeding  an  octave. 
Thev  can  be  written  on  the  modern  musical  staff. 


410 


THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 


"Savila  se  grana  yorgovana" — "The  lilac  branch  was 
bending": 

Largholto 


fJ_j_S: 


±rt*-*-*ll 


n 


-y 


6#£?ii§il 


feto 


$ttgjpgigsgf|pll 


"Sva  se  livada  travom  niyala" — "The  meadow  grass 
was  swaying": 
Moderato 


-0 r-H- 


iM 


V*-T-* 


-^0-p- — 0— *- 


m 


-# — I— !- 


~j~* 


^^^TO 


Fa 


"Viyor  dolom  douye"- 
Andantino 


Oy  devoyko  devoykc.-'— " Maiden,  O  maiden": 

Andante 


eS&5^^^^3^§ 


MUSIC   AND   THE   DRAMA  411 


"Tri  sou   seye  zbor  zborile" — "Three  sisters  held 


converse  together": 


Andante 


*>7 


H 


^ 


^ZI 


Hf»jT- 


s 


ril  .  .  .  .    a  tempo 


piu  mo&so 

~|/-l7-    m* r^lJ^ZI — , — ,1 ~ — , — il    .  i — [  I   "      — i-f-^-  ■ 


tit 


r^i*r 


l^t 


^m 


"I  titchitza  sanka  ima  "     "  E'en  the  little  bird  sleeps" : 

Annunte 


The  opening  and  the  cadence  of  these  songs  are 
generally  characteristic.     When  rendered  in  modern 


412 


THE   SERVIAN    PEOPLE 


harmony  they  are  either  in  suspense  or  half  finished. 
Songs  sung  on  joyous  occasions,  such  as  marriages 
and  festivals,  and  drinking  songs  follow  the  mood  of 
the  moment. 


"Dai   da  piyemo" — "Let  us  drink": 

Sostenuto 


>     >     >     > 


^^^_^pgpJ££gjf 


*j 


>      >      >      > 


£=£ 


0-F-0 


va 


#-# 


-i — i 


?—+-* 


ite^l 


In  the  dancing  songs  words  and  notes  sharply 
accentuate  the  rhythm.  Especially  is  this  true  of 
the  "poskotchitze,"  which  being  spontaneous,  in  the 
height  of  fun  are  sometimes  more  than  saucy.  The 
heroic  songs  are  sung  by  grown-up  men  only,  the 
lyrics  by  men  and  women,  the  "poskotchitze"  only 
by  young  men  in  the  quick  Kolo  dances. 

The  lyric  songs  are  generally  sung  by  a  group  of 
persons  together;  certain  of  the  Kolo  songs  are 
sung  by  the  girls  and  women  as  they  dance;  some 
women's  songs  are  sung  in  strophe  and  anti-strophe 
by  different  voices.  The  singing  is  generally  in  uni- 
son, except  in  some  districts  where  there  are  two 
parts  sung,  one  as  a  leading  voice,  the  other  as 
support. 

The  dance  music  is  played  or  played  and  sung  in 
all  tempos,  from  vivace  to  andante: 


MUSIC    AND    THE    DRAMA  413 

"Neda    grivnu    izgoubila" — "Nedda   has     lost    her 
bangle": 


Moderato 


s 


tpjj  \  WJU3E&&Z&1 


i 


#-»-» 


WU=ff^ 


^^m 


"Srbiyanka  ": 

Giusto 


-»■  *  _  * 


■GT 


y^T 


^=r^~'~rr"i  *  fly * j  - — =-m-^ 


^s 


fe^^-Hra 


14  koritarka": 
AJIegro 


*  #  r  , 


fe?T^ra 


3tDt 


414 


THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 


#B^gia 


"Gjurgjevka": 

Allesro  vivace 


fcfc 


g^Mj'jLl^^g^ 


m 


^i  :  I  ^ 


*-*-* 


teffi 


# — • 


V    V  \ 


!_Li-_S 


&=* 


a 


jJpjgggjpaiB 


•! — frfc 


£*£ 


fea#e#Nfei 


MUSIC    AND    THE    DRAMA 
"Yelke  tamnitcharke"' 

Allegretto 


415 


fa^HlJgj^Jg&lfi^&l 


"Ousta'i  diko  zora  ye!" — "Get  up  dear,  'tis  day!" 

Allegro  vivo 


ESEH3+    -r-g-H- 


*. 


S-Z£?EtS 


te 


3tS 


•*-*: 


& 


1'?. 


IJI 


"Nishei  lanka  Kolo"  is  remarkable  in  that,  although 

oue  of  the  oldest  dance  tunes,  it  resembles  a  modern 
tune  in  structure: 


Gratioso 


416 


THE   SERVIAN   PEOPLE 


M: 


Fine 


poco  a  poco  acceil 


Vivace 


rji 


g^EJS^^pgSggl^ 


^      poco  a  poco  acceil 


8rf& — i — ^-T — i — ^^-:I1 


D.  C.  al  Fine 


The  following  dances  are  played,  sung,  danced, 
and  acted  at  the  same  time,  recalling  dances  of  Greek 
antiquity: 

"  Stoyanke  stoyano  " : 


^3 


~±&}\  jjj-|-j^JUjA 


^^m 


i 


MUSIC   AND   THE    DRAMA 

"Igralo  Kolo": 

Tranquillo 


417 


■J?  £2  •  p  r  i  •  •  ■  i    I  r^n"  s  m  ?  w  ?  i 


Si 


t=*=+ 


"Tita  tita  loboda": 
Allegretto 


n 


# , . . 1 — S£ — pjtM  m 


fc 


#-# 


>:H^ 


**=; 


I 


Popular  music  is  a  part  of  life  in  Serb  lands,  and 
there  are  many  singing  societies  which  cultivate  the 
national  melodies,  bringing  them  into  modern  har- 
mony, generally  in  the  form  of  the  quartette.  These 
societies  have  given  a  great  impulse  to  modern  crea- 
tive work  of  an  original  and  national  character. 
Two  composers  of  some  merit  are  Davorin  Yenko 
and  Iossip  Marinkovich.  There  are  several  beauti- 
ful compositions  to  the  credit  of  each.  Yenko  has 
composed  a  light  opera,  "Yratchar,"  and  the  over- 
tures, "Kossovo"  and  "Tri  svetla  dana,"  all  with 
full  orchestration.  Several  young  composers  are  of 
interesting  promise. 


418  THE   SERVIAN    PEOPLE 

The  highest  class  of  modern  instrumental  music 
at  present  in  Servia  is  represented  only  by  the 
regimental  bands  and  the  orchestras  of  the  theatres 

at  Belgrade,  Novi-Sad,  and  Zagreb. 

Drama 

Fragments  of  old  masques  or  plays,  living  still 
to-day  in  "KGled;!,''  "Dodola,"  "Kralitze,"  "Laza- 
ritze,"  are  the  survivals  of  ancient  riles  from  mytho- 
logical ages.  They  are  declaimed,  sung,  and  chanted 
with  strophe  and  anti-strophe,  postured,  mimed,  and 
danced,  and  contain  chief  characters  and  chorus  in 
which  there  can  be  traced  ancient  conceptions  of 
gods  and  goddesses,  heroes  and  nymphs,  expressive 
not  only  of  nature's  forces,  but  of  human  and  mystic 
action  and  the  courses  of  destiny. 

The  "Vertep"  ("Cradle")  is  an  adaptation  of  this 
old  dramatic  expression.  At  Christmas  time  little 
children,  decked  out  as  personages  of  the  story, 
make  a  tiny  cradle,  put  a  doll  in  it,  and  carry  it 
through  the  village,  speaking  and  acting  old  dialogue 
appropriate  to  the  occasion. 

Manuscripts  show  that  the  dramatic  art  flourished 
in  mediaeval  Servia.  The  plays  were  not  like  the 
morality  plays,  but  were  actual  representations  of 
various  parts  of  sacred  story,  resembling,  so  far  as 
can  be  judged,  the  Oberammergau  Passion  Play; 
and  in  the  fifteenth  century,  in  Ragusa,  realistic 
plays  of  ordinary  life  were  written  and  acted.  One 
of  these,  remembered  as  a  masterpiece,  was  the 
"Slave-Girl,"  by  Lutchich. 

In  the  early  nineteenth  century  the  dramatic  art 


MUSIC    AND    TUB    DRAMA  419 

was  revived  by  the  actor  and  writer  Joachim  Vouitch, 
who  organised  a  company  of  players  which  travelled 
through  all  Servian  lands  giving  Servian  dramas. 
In  1835 — five  years  after  Servia  was  recognised  as 
independent  his  troupe  played  there  at  Kragouye- 
vatz.  Ni^  company  and  others  had  an  important 
pari  in  the  revival  of  Servian  national  life. 

The  art  of  the  theatre  i>  centred  at  present  in  the 
national  theatres  at  Belgrade,  Zagreb,  and  Novi- 
Sad.  All  three  of  those  national  theatres  are  estab- 
lished t<>  develop  and  promulgate  the  l><--t  that  can 
be  produced  in  the  Drama,  Comedy,  and  Opera. 


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